way down we go
by PausedInTime
Summary: Clara Oswald never planned to fall in love, especially at this age. She had just started University at twenty years old, surely she wasn't meant to meet the love of her life? But here she was, two years into her Literature degree and so in love it almost killed her… [Whouffaldi University AU]
1. Chapter 1

John Smith pushed his key through the door of his dorm room, a frown on his face as the door didn't open. Okay, that's a little weird. He looked down the corridor, running his fingers through the dark curls on the top of his head.

'Um, excuse me?' he called out to a very small girl down the other end of the corridor, his Scottish accent thick and obvious.

She seemed to be struggling with her door and it finally clicked in his head, they had their dorm keys mixed up. John laughed and raised his hand, 'I think we've got each other's keys, that's why we can't get in. Must have accidentally swapped them in reception,' he smiled tightly, noticing the way she was dressed.

She had to be a Literature student, it was _painfully_ obvious.

Clara fixed her beanie as a rather tall and lanky guy walked towards her. She turned a lovely shade of pink as she nodded and swapped her key with his, 'Thanks…' she trailed off, her voice soft and sweet as she picked up her Jane Austen collection from the floor after unlocking her room.

John noticed the box looked a little bit too heavy and immediately bent down to pick it up for her. He smiled, his curls dropping over his blue eyes, 'Here, let me help you with these,' he nodded to the door and managed to kick it open, dumping the box on her bed.

'Do you want me to stack them? I'm quite tall, I could reach,' he smirked at her, obviously teasing.

John extended his hand, struggling to role up the sleeve of his leather jacket, 'John Smith, music. You?'

Clara seemed at a loss for words, for the first time in her life. Usually, she couldn't stop talking, being a Literature student and all.

She rolled her eyes at him, 'Is that a dig at my height? Clever,'

Clara had to bite her cheek to keep herself from laughing, his clothes seemed a size too large for his thin frame, 'Oswald. Clara Oswald, literature…' she said, shaking his hand.

A sudden jolt sparked through her as she felt his warm skin against hers, she cleared her throat and caught his gaze. Once his eyes met hers, he couldn't seem to look away. Jesus, this couldn't have been more fairy tale like if they tried. John cleared his throat and pulled his hand back, patting his jacket down for the packet of cigarettes he always kept with him.

'Want one?'' he questioned, taking his lighter out as he lit a cigarette, his jawline tough and obvious as his other hand held the packet out to the much smaller girl.

Clara cocked her brow as she looked at the cigarette, she'd never smoked, but she figured University was a good place to start. She took the cigarette from him, unsure of how to hold it as he lit it up for her. She instantly had a coughing fit at her first drag.

John fell into a fit of giggles, clutching his stomach as his head flew backwards, his jaw working overtime as he laughed at her, 'Poor lass,' he muttered, taking the cigarette from Clara as he smoked the rest of it and dropped it on the floor, stomping it out without a care in the world.

He stepped closer, picking up her books as he looked them over, 'Jane Austen… hm. Believe it or not, I'm a bit of a fan myself, only she didn't actually write this one in that year,' he smirked, a smug smile on his face as he tapped a certain book with his long fingers, a number of silver and golden rings on each finger.

He held in front of his face, 'She wrote it in 1793, not 1783…'

Clara scoffed, 'Oh, no, no, you don't do this…' she laughed, crossing her arms when the boy seemed to hold his ground.

'What, I suppose she was your bezzie mate, was she? And you went on holidays together and then you got kidnapped by Boggons from space and you all formed a band and met Buddy Holly?' she finished, snatching her book right out of his hands.

John arched his eyebrow, clearing his throat awkwardly as he stared at her. A bit in shock, if he was honest. What the hell was that about?

'Boggons… from space?' he questioned, clearly amused by her very imaginative description.

'You reek of Literature student,' he smiled at her, something he didn't do often, shoving his hands into his pockets.

'Again… space? You know full well I'm a music student from what I'm wearing,' he laughed, glaring at her even though he had taken an immediate liking to this tiny girl.

'But, you already knew that. Nice slipping in of the forming the band part, by the way. Very quick.'

Clara turned a bright red, fuming inside as she smiled at him tightly, 'Thank you for the help… Now do us both a favour and sod off,' she growled, pushing him out of her room.

Clara slammed her head against her own door, cursing to herself, 'Way to go Oswald… You finally meet a cute guy and make a fool out of yourself,' she berated herself, letting her body sink onto the floor.

John stared at her door for a full minute before he actually moved again. Well, that was interesting. An hour later, the rest of the students in their corridor turned up and John was the first one to greet them all. Only, before he could greet them all, he walked right up to Clara's door and repeatedly banged on it before she emerged with a glare sent his way.

He blanked her and moved down the hallway casually, his hand extended to a rather tall woman with incredible, frizzy hair, 'John Smith, music,' he informed her and only smiled smugly when the woman looked him up and down like he was a piece of meat she would not mind chewing on.

'River Song, studying History.'

Clara glared at him. What was he getting up to? She watched as he strolled down the corridor, smirking when he nearly tripped over his oversized feet. She watched his curly hair drop over his eyes and frowned when he extended his hand to River. Clara took note of the voluptuous woman looking at him, as if she was seizing him up and something about that put Clara off of this new girl entirely. She had curves for miles and a sexuality that oozed around the entire room, there wasn't a chance she could compete with _that._

Clara turned her head to the sound of the door opening again and in piled another lot of students, including a rather tall guy with floppy dark hair who's quiff never ended. The tall, floppy haired guy wore a long burgundy coat and a matching bow tie. He ran up to her within seconds of seeing her and shook her hand, his other hand holding onto just one of hers.

'Lovely to meet you!' he exclaimed, his emerald eyes full of happiness, 'I'm Eleven. I happen to be getting a degree in Science, physics to be exact. What about you? Are you a music student like him?' he grinned, nodding over to John who was casually lent on the wall beside him.

Eleven seemed to be over enthusiastic about everything, including introducing himself, apparently.

His laugh was contagious and Clara couldn't help but laugh along with him, she may have overdone it on purpose to see if John would look over.

'God, no, I'm here for Literature…' she smiled at him, his boyish grin told her that this guy was going to be quite the handful.

In walked two more students behind Eleven, a redhead with the longest legs Clara had ever seen. That woman was made of legs. And a boy next to her with a rather sharp nose, they introduced themselves as Amelia Pond and Rory Williams, although they didn't come together. As soon as they were all introduced, the redhead insisted on walking around campus and 'checking things out' and by that she meant, checking if there were any hot guys about.

John decided not to go with them, startled with the glare Clara shot him, he was confused by her hostility to say the least. What kind of game was she trying to play? He shook his head, managing to stop himself from rolling his eyes as his attention was back on River within seconds. Later on, John, River and a new blonde with a distinctive attitude were sat in the living room when Clara and the others returned, the three of them laughing at something River had said. Just as Clara and the others entered and dropped down onto all the different, multi-coloured couches, a new guy strolled into the room, dragging a suitcase behind him as he spoke in a loud American accent.

'Hey! Jack Harkness, pleasure to meet you. Sorry I'm late,'

Clara observed that John was already close with the other two girls, River and the blonde that introduced herself as Rose. She was about to open her mouth, when the loud American burst through the doors. Amy, Rose and River seemed highly interested in this particular new student.

Clara simply shrugged and continued to talk with Rory in a quiet corner, fascinated with the fact he'd rather be a nurse, than a Doctor. Clara didn't pay much attention to all the women who seemed to flock towards Jack. She simply stayed put until a young, tall and very handsome Scottish guy with gravity defying hair stomped into the room. He didn't seem like an angry guy, just a little bit heavy footed. He was dressed in a long brown coat and a jumper Clara would have called a 'dad jumper' the vans on his feet just confused her even more.

'Clara Oswald, literature. You?' she introduced herself, blushing when he bent to kiss her hand.

He grinned at her, his white teeth more obvious than the American's, 'David, but my friends call me Ten,'

David smirked, an arch of his eyebrow as he messed with his hair and smiled at the smaller girl, 'Glad to meet you,' he told her, unable to stop smiling as he stepped towards the blonde behind Clara, shaking her hand.

'David, nice to meet you,'

John watched from a far as Rose twirled her hair around her finger, 'Rose Tyler, Literature.'

Once David had introduced himself to everyone , River stepped into the centre of everyone, 'I say we hit the town, unless anybody wants an orgy?' she smirked glancing over to the American as she made her flirting obvious.

Jack grinned and sent her a wink right back, 'I'm up for that,' he clapped his hands together, noticing Rory visibly cringe in the background.

Clara rolled her eyes as she caught John's gaze. She instantly became a bright shade of red before clearing her throat, 'I'd rather not, but you guys go for it,' she said, standing up and heading down the corridor to her dorm room.

Clara didn't get a lick of sleep that night, but managed to rise early. She peered her head through the corridor before heading towards the showers. It was this part she was dreading, walking out and hoping nobody saw her in just her towel. She dropped it on the floor once she hopped into the shower, praying that nobody was going to join her anytime soon. John stumbled through the door, having only just got in from the night before. He groaned, his head pounding from the amount of alcohol he had consumed. He pulled off his clothes, ignoring the bruises he had managed to get throughout the night. He switched the shower on and once he realised somebody else was in the shower beside him.

'Would you mind passing some shampoo? I forgot mine,'

Clara froze as she cursed every God in existence. Why was the Universe determined to make her look like an idiot in front of John? Clara closed her eyes and took a deep breath, groaning when he asked for the shampoo a bit more persistently this time.

'Yeah, okay, hold your horses!' she growled, sticking her hand out of the shower, holding the shampoo bottle out to him. It was for women and the thought of him wearing it in his hair made her chuckle.

'How was the orgy?' she asked, clearly teasing him.

At the sound of the voice, John immediately knew who it was. Clara Oswald. He smirked and shifted on his feet, taking the shampoo as he pushed it into his hair, wanting anything to get the smell of smoke from it.

'Pretty good, had lots of sex,' he joked along with her, rolling his eyes as he cleared his throat.

'I'm certain we didn't have an orgy. But, I did wake up on the floor of Jack's room with one of River's heels by my face. No River in sight… Or anyone else, for that matter.'

Clara tried to ignore the image of River throwing herself at him, but she was finding it hard. Why was she jealous? She'd never been jealous of anyone in her life.

She scoffed, 'Seems like you and Jack may have,' she remarked, washing her body down with the soap.

John snorted, 'I doubt it, I'm not into men,' he laughed and washed the rest of his body quickly.

Once he was out, he dried himself, 'I'll see you later, Clara…' he told her, the 'R' in her name easily rolled off of his tongue.

When he reached his dorm room, he dressed himself and dried his curly hair. He joined Clara in the living room, shades over his eyes as he slumped on the couch beside her, his feet propping up on Clara's lap as he smirked at her.

'What are you reading?'

Clara rolled her eyes and slapped his feet away from her lap, 'Pride and Prejudice,' she told him, managing to finally knock down his heavy feet.

She lent down and pulled his Raybans away, laughing when he hissed at her like a vampire would, 'Still drunk from last night, aren't you?'

John groaned in response, rolling over onto his stomach, 'Leave me alone,' he whined, his Scottish accent thick as he dropped his face into a pillow.

'It's Jack's fault, he forced me to drink too many shots and River encouraged me. I'm normally good with drinking, but those two are something else,' he sighed and raised his head, snatching back his shades from her as the door opened and in stumbled Jenny and Vastra, holding onto suitcases.

How many more people were going to live on their floor?

Clara giggled and rolled her eyes, 'You poor, poor guy. Here, let me make it better,' she smirked, slapping him upside the head as John let out a yelp and the two of their heads whipped to the girls standing in the doorway.

The taller one was rather cold, but the shorter girl with long brown hair seemed pleasant enough, 'Jenny Flint, criminology,'

John's eyes followed Clara and smiled at the two women at the door. After Jenny introduced herself to Clara, she went over to speak to John. The taller woman, who was covered in Tattoos and had her hair dyed green, looked Clara up and down.

'Vastra Montgomery, Criminology, we came here together… Literally,'

Clara put her hands up in defence at the obvious territorial personality, 'Okay, I get it… backing off now,' she teased, throwing in a quick compliment at the girls lizard Tattoo all down her arm.

Clara sent a knowing look to John and turned back to the girls, 'Will you two be sharing a room, then?' she asked, noticing the lack of spare rooms left.

Vastra nodded, her arms folding across her chest, 'Of course,' she told her sternly, to which Jenny laughed and slapped her girlfriend's arm.

'Drop the tough girl act, Vastra. Yes, we'll be sharing and yes, we're a couple,' she rubbed her girlfriend's arm and slapped her arm once again when Vastra joked that they wouldn't be too loud in their room.

Clara giggled, 'No need to worry, John and I are like that too,' she joked, laughing as the Scottish dreamboys head shot up from the couch.

'Go back to sleep,' she laughed, continuing to talk to the girls, 'I'm going to start breakfast, everyone should be awake after midday…'

Half an hour later, whilst Clara was attempting to make herself breakfast, the door whooshed open and in stumbled David and Rose, walking arm in arm with pairs of shades over their faces, 'They look rather cosy,' she sighed, cracking a couple of eggs into the pan.

John smirked and lobbed a pillow in Clara's direction, watching as it bounced off of her head. He immediately hid himself in the couch, pulling the blanket over himself as he mumbled, 'You jealous?' he asked, once Rose and David were out of earshot and in their own dorm rooms.

Clara growled and rolled her eyes, throwing the pillow right at him, 'And to think I made you breakfast,' she grumbled, rubbing the 'sore' spot on her head.

John frowned, an arch of his eyebrow as he looked down at the vegetarian omelette in her hand, 'No offence Clara, but do I look like a vegetarian to you?' he laughed, staring up at her with blood shot eyes.

'Actually, don't answer that, I am quite skinny,'

Clara sighed and flopped her arms to the side, 'Fine, suit yourself,' she sighed, after placing the plate down on the kitchen counter. Clara almost shit herself when arms wound around her waist and lifted her off of the ground.

She yelped, about to attack the person who had spun her around before she realised it was Eleven. She had a big, wide and goofy grin on her face, pushing on his hands to get him to drop her onto the ground. Clara smiled as she felt Eleven's hands rest on her cheeks, a kiss pressed against her forehead.

John shifted a little uncomfortably on the couch, his gaze dropping from Clara and Eleven who seemed to be already smitten with each other. That was fine, he didn't care. Why would he care? He stood up from the couch and ruffled his curls, picking up a book as he lobbed it at Clara, not realising it had in fact cut just above her eyebrow as he turned to leave.

'I'll be in my room if anybody needs me,'

Clara winced as the book bounced off the top of her head, splitting her brow open. She groaned and noticed John had already left, before she could snap at him. 'He is such a fucking prick,' she hissed, muttering her thanks as Eleven wiped the blood from her eyebrow.

She giggled when she noticed the hickey under his right ear, 'Things went well with River, I take it?' Clara grinned, waggling her eyebrows at him.

Eleven laughed and nodded his head, 'Very well,' he blushed a furious shade of red and rushed into the bathroom for a first aid kit.

Once he had retrieved it, he placed a plaster over the cut above her eyebrow, 'I think he likes you, Clara…'

Clara only scoffed, 'He has a funny way of showing it then,' she mused, touching her wound as she winced.

'First he makes fun of me for not being able to smoke, then he flirts with River and now this,' she sighed, standing to dump the omelette into the bin.

'He can starve for all I care,' she growled, clearly irritated as she picked up her bag and headed to her first class of the term.


	2. Chapter 2 - The Lift Incident

'Who's up for a night out?!'

Jack flew through the door, entering their shared living room, 'Come on, guys, we're at Uni! God, you Brits really do moan too much,' he laughed and sent a wink to River, hands on his waist.

Rory groaned from somewhere behind the couch, his nose shoved into a book as he shouted to Jack, 'We're at University to study and get a degree, not party every night and wake up in the morning wondering why the hell we agreed to it in the first place,' he sighed and rolled over onto his front, preparing himself to stand up.

Amy was huddled into one of the couches, a bag of crisps on her lap as she stuffed a crisp into her mouth and ate it quite disgracefully, 'I'd rather have a movie night,'

Clara walked in after a long day in class, her plaster was pretty much peeling off from the sweat that had built up in her yoga class, 'Movie night sounds perfect right now, just give me a second to shower, yeah?'

Amy beamed at her from the couch, 'Great!' she exclaimed, sitting up as she passed the bag of crisps to Rory who planted himself next to her, 'What films are we watching?' she asked, watching as Jack ran to the other end of the corridor and banged on River's door.

Her head popped out, a grin on her lips as Eleven stumbled out of her room in just his trousers and a bow tie, lipstick marks all over his neck and cheeks. As if on cue, John stepped into the room, finding the whole scene amusing as he walked right past Eleven and River and caught sight of Clara, sending her a wink.

'Looking good,' he told her, holding a cigarette in his mouth as he failed to notice the plaster above Clara's eyebrow.

Clara groaned, glaring at John. What was this guy getting at? First, he had thrown a book at her and now he's winking at her. She rolled her eyes at her and made her way into the shower. After around ten minutes, Clara emerged into the living area, freshly showered and a packet of plasters in her hand.

'Rory, mind putting this plaster on me?' she asked the future nurse, sitting on the coffee table in front of him, stealing a crisp from Amy's bag.

Amy hissed like a cat would have and slapped her hand, 'Oi!' she whined, glaring at Clara as she rearranged all the DVDS she had brought with her.

From the distance, she could hear Jack and River arguing over which bar they were going to tonight and apparently Eleven, Rose and David were being dragged along with them. Rory sniggered, turning his attention back to Clara as he stuck the plaster over the cut on her head.

'Poor them, can nobody say no to River OR Jack?'

Clara shrugged as she went to touch the plaster, smirking when Rory slapped her hand away. She rolled her eyes and laughed at him, 'Could you say no to them? Mister drunk out of his wits, Amy told me about the kiss between Eleven and yourself last night,' she winked when everyone was out of earshot.

Clara moved away from Rory and wrapped herself in a duvet, sinking further into the couch next to the TV, 'What are we watching?' she asked Amy, rolling her eyes as she heard overly loud and overly exaggerated moans from Vastra and Jenny's dorm room.

'Those two never stop,' she snickered, secretly jealous that even Vastra could get some and not even she was managing to get any.

Rory gasped and pretended to act shocked, 'I did not!' he protested, laughing as he watched Clara sink into the couch, she seemed just the right length for it.

'Shaun of the Dead, I think,' Rory told her, tilting his head to the side as he tried to figure out what they were watching.

John appeared from right behind Clara, forcing her to jump when his hands came to rest on her shoulders, 'They fuck so much, I'm certain I know that's Jenny moaning, and not Vastra,'

Clara was far too exhausted to argue with him, so she simply nodded in agreement, 'Well, they are young and in love, I think they're allowed to shag whenever they want, John.'

Clara propped her legs up to her chest under the blanket, raising her eyebrow at the boy next to her, 'Hold on, how exactly do you know that, John?'

John snorted, 'You sound like an elderly lady who counts on love way too much,' he mused, chewing his bottom lip as he li up a cigarette, opening up a window as he sat on the windowsill.

Once Clara asked her question, as if on cue, he opened his mouth to mimic Jenny as she shouted from their dorm room, 'Oh, Vastra! Where did you learn to do, THAT?!'

Clara tried to supress a giggle, but ended up laughing hard as she threw a pillow right at John's head, 'Those things will kill you, you know,' she told him, standing up as she pointed to the cigarette in his mouth.

She had to admit, he was rather cute under the light of the sunset behind him.

'So much for movie night,' Clara grumbled, sitting herself next to John as she nodded over to Amy and Rory, who seemed far too engaged in chatting amongst themselves to pay attention to the film.

John shrugged, 'I'm not bothered, we could go out… You know, be each other's wingman, or, wing woman, if your case,' he laughed, nudging Clara with his shoulder.

'Hips like yours, no man can resist,' he intended for it to be a compliment, but the tone of his voice made it sound like an insult.

Clara sighed and simply stood up, heading towards the lift. She didn't expect John to follow, nor did she expect the lift to stop working half way down.

Clara growled under her breath as she shot a look towards the other student, 'Just my luck!' she exclaimed, scoffing more than she needed to as she pushed all the buttons at once, hoping it would fix the problem.

John laughed, shaking his head as he pretty much bounced off of the walls at their situation, 'Charming,' he muttered, sending her a wink as he looked her up and down for a laugh.

'Anything could happen whilst you're stuck in a lift, Clara…' he laughed, rolling his eyes when she only gave him an overly shocked stare.

'Oh, come on, it was just a joke,'

Clara pointed to her plaster, 'Oh, like this was a joke?' she questioned him, turning to kick at the lift doors. It jolted, but made no difference to their situation.

Truth was Clara was a little afraid of closed spaces, she suddenly felt herself becoming very nauseous, very quickly, 'Is it getting warmer? It feels like there's barely any oxygen,'

He frowned, becoming increasingly aware of Clara's panicked state. He then clicked on that she was obviously claustrophobic and his jokes on the matter, were not helping her.

John snapped into action, holding onto her forearms as he looked into Clara's eyes, 'Hey… don't panic, the lift isn't as small as you think it is and we'll be out of here soon, I promise,'

Clara struggled to keep calm, until her eyes locked onto his. He seemed sincere enough to calm her down, 'I'm fine, I'm fine…' she insisted, noticing how his hands felt on her skin. It was like a burn, but a good kind of burn. Then again, she supposed not any type of burning was a good thing.

'Sorry about that little freak out,' she whispered, sitting herself down on the floor of the lift. All of sudden, she was tired and starting to shiver, her body running cold at the prospect of being stuck in the lift for quite a while.

Once Clara had sat down and he knew she was okay, he started to bang on the door, hoping that somebody would at least hear them. When they didn't, he shrugged off his leather jacket and placed it around Clara's shoulders, sitting down beside her.

'Sorry that it smells of smoke,'

Clara shrugged, settling herself closer onto his side of the lift, her head dropping onto his broad shoulder, 'Just our luck, dorm rooms full of people fucking, nobody is going to hear us from down here,' she chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

John snorted, an arch of his eyebrow at her comment, 'That's a very good point,' he muttered, taking out his phone as he checked for signal.

'No signal either, we're going to be down here a while,' he informed her, trying not to let the fact she was lent on his shoulder bother him too much, she was just cold and needed comfort, it didn't mean she had any type of crush on him. Did it?

Clara watched as he seemed to stiffen under her touch. Did he really not like her? She cleared her throat and body shuffled to the other side of the lift, putting some distance between them. She found herself counting the seconds as she simply watched the blinking light on the panel of the lift. At this moment, it seemed like the most intriguing thing in the world.

'So, John Smith… we might as well get to know each other. Do you have any siblings?'

John paused for a moment, confused as to why she was making pleasantries. Why was she suddenly interested in him? John smiled weakly and turned his head to look at her, 'Yes, lots, in fact,'

He took a deep breath and smiled tightly, 'You?'

Clara shrugged, 'Mainly just my grandmother, and my father. I'm sure there's an evil step mother in there somewhere,' she joked and jumped as the lift jolted, but gave no indication to move further up or down.

John's hand immediately shot down to hold onto Clara's, swallowing nervously when she gave him a weird look, 'I don't like the thought of falling…' he admitted, his breath caught in his throat.

He attempted to distract himself with Clara's life, 'Evil step mother, aye? Try adoptive mother,'

Clara tried to ignore the simple contact of John's hand on hers, but the electricity shot right through her and it wasn't because of the lift. She was about to open her mouth to speak when all of a sudden, the lift dropped and sent Clara flying forwards, right on top of John. She instantly wrapped her arms around him in pure shock, her face hid in the crook of his neck. The chords on the left side of the lift had snapped and forced the lift to slant to the right, meaning there was no chance of Clara moving back to where she was. Although, the image of her trying to scramble away from him and to the other side of the lift was quite amusing for John, as she would have just slipped right back onto his side and landed on top of him, once again.

John smirked to himself, his hand at the back of Clara's head, tempted to run his fingers through the locks of her brown hair, 'Well, isn't this quite the predicament?'

'Shut up and think of a way out…' she sighed, but stopped when she felt something against her thigh. She tried to focus her eyes anywhere else, but they seemed to always fall back on his.

'What now-' she was cut off when the lights returned and the lift seemed to return to normal. The doors dinged in the familiar tone as the doors opened to reveal a laughing Amy and Rory.

Amy instantly made a remark about their current position and Clara couldn't help but blush a bright pink, but her smile soon faded as she looked back at John's gaze, it seemed mischievous and playful in nature. Had he planned this? Had they all planned this at her expense?

Clara instantly stood upright, 'You're so immature,' she spat, glaring at the two of them.

John laughed and rolled his eyes, holding his arms behind his head as he giggled on the floor of the lift, 'And you're not?' he muttered to himself, finally standing up to brush his clothes off.

Once he was up, he moved past Amy and sent her a wink, his eyes on Clara's lips. This girl was going to be the death of him.

Clara rolled her eyes, walking past the giggling two, but not before tearing her friend a new one. Rory simply shield his gaze and apologised as she waked towards her room. A week passed and Clara mainly stayed to her schedule with the occasional outing with Rory, Amy and Eleven.

'So, Clara, at what point are you and John going to put us all out of our misery and tell us you're together?' Jack laughed, playfully wining at the Northern girl. From the back of the room, John sighed audibly, taking his earphones out.

'Are you always this obsessed with sex and relationships, Jack? Nothing is going on between myself and Clara,' he growled, shoving his earphones back in.

Once Jack realised John couldn't hear, he planted himself in between Rory and Clara and turned his attention towards her, 'Do you want to make him jealous?'

Clara groaned as Jack asked her about John's and her relationship, but quickly turned into a smirk as she nodded. She definitely could get him back after the lift incident, 'Of course… what's your plan? She whispered, placing her hand on his thigh.

Jack smirked and waggled his eyebrows at her, 'As much as I would not mind taking you to bed Clara, I have a mate who has a crush on you,' he nudged her with his shoulder and described him, 'Maths student, very clever. Dark skinned, brown eyes, dark hair, biggest smile and a really big…' before he could finish his sentence, Rory punched him in the arm and warned him.

'Don't finish that sentence!'

Clara chuckled and feigned interest, 'Is that so? Wouldn't mind checking that out myself,' she mused, taking Jack's phone as she looked at his friend.

'Oh, he really is handsome. Looks good,'

Jack smirked and took back his phone, tapping her knee with it as he tried to talk quietly, even as an American, 'Do you want me to set you up, send you out on a date?'

Clara raised her head and noticed John was half invested in the conversation, 'I don't see why not… he seems okay, as long as he doesn't throw books at my face,' she growled, glaring in John's direction.

Half an hour later, Clara walked down the stairs in a very revealing dress, 'What do you think, John? Think I can make this boy fall in love with me?' she asked, purposely twirling around on the spot.

John swallowed, holding a cigarette in his hand as he watched her walk towards him. He took a deep breath and once she twirled around on the spot and he caught sight of her bum, he lit up his cigarette but somehow managed to burn himself instead.

'Ow, fuck!' he exclaimed, immediately putting out the cigarette as he stamped on it, his finger in his mouth.

Clara turned quickly when she heard him let out a painful cry, 'It's not that bad, is it?' she sighed, referring to his finger as he stepped back and snapped at her not to touch him.

'Okay, fuck, fine. I'll let you deal with it yourself,' she glared at him, grabbed her bag and stormed from the room, slamming the door behind her.

John was a fucking idiot.


	3. Chapter 3 - The Bet

The date had gone a lot better than she expected.

Danny seemed great and kind, except he was lacking something. Something Clara couldn't quite put her finger on, she tried to make as little noise as possible as she snuck back into the dorms. It was two in the morning and she worried somebody was about to catch her out so late and everybody knew she had been out on a date, they'd only tease her.

John had been awake most of the night, unable to sleep. He happened to be sitting in the living room, a blanket just covering his waist as his shirt was off. As Clara came through the door, he smiled at her.

'You look happy. I would almost say you were in love,'

Clara simply chuckled, her throat suddenly dry as she noticed his bare smooth chest, 'Don't be silly, it was just one date,' she mused, flopping herself next to him on the couch.

She tugged on his blanket, stealing half of it as she kicked off her heels, 'Can't sleep?' she asked him, noticing the smell of smoke on his blanket and skin.

He nodded, coughing a little as he fiddled with the rings on his fingers, it was a nervous tick, 'I…' John bit his bottom lip and smiled down at her, making sure she had enough of the blanket to keep her warm.

'I'm a bit of an insomniac,'

Clara laughed, 'That's alright, we can watch a movie?' she offered, standing to lean forward and grab the remote, her ass in perfect view for him. She couldn't really work out if she was doing it on purpose or not.

She turned with a sly smirk on her lips, 'What are you in the mood for?' she asked causally, noticing the blush creep up John's cheeks.

'Horror, humour, romance?'

John instantly blushed when Clara bent down in front of him, his groin suddenly tight in his jeans, 'I -' he paused and took a deep breath, trying to take a moment to not think about bending her over.

'Comedy is good, relaxes me…'

'Comedy it is then,' Clara laughed awkwardly, he always seemed to stiffen around her, to the point where Clara was beginning to think he didn't actually want her company.

'Are you alright? You seem stressed,'

He nodded and cleared his throat, trying to relax his body as she put the film on. Once she was lying next to him again, John smiled weakly, 'I – um, sorry, it isn't your fault… I'm not used to physical contact with somebody I care about,'

Clara frayed shock as she pointed at him, blinking slowly, 'You – you, care about me?' she muttered, almost in disbelief as she pointed to the scar he'd left just above her eyebrow.

'You have a funny way of showing it,' she laughed, pressing her hand against his thigh as she leaned in to take his cigarette in hand.

'Show me?' she whispered, keeping her hand firmly on his thigh.

His blue eyes were full of confusion that she thought he didn't care for her, he visibly winced and took a deep breath, 'Sorry about that, by the way,' he smiled weakly and flinched at her hand pressed against his thigh.

He took a sharp breath in and chewed on his bottom lip, lighting up the cigarette for her, 'Put it in your mouth, breathe in slowly so you inhale it properly and exhale as much as you can,'

Clara nodded as she placed it in her mouth, but she inhaled too fast and instantly started to cough, glaring at him when she saw the corners of his mouth turn up, 'Let me try again,' she sighed, trying it a little slower this time.

She let out a victory 'yay' as she took a couple of more drags of the cigarette.

John tried not to laugh, or even giggle. He knew full she didn't like it when he laughed at her. He nodded and waited for her to try again, clapping loudly when she managed to do it, 'Congrats, you're a dirty smoker…'

Clara giggled, her face seemed to soften as she passed the cigarette to him, 'Leaves a weird taste in my mouth,' she laughed, leaning her body towards him. Her arm shot out and she immediately grabbed at his bottle of beer, downing it in one.

John laughed and arched his eyebrow, his breath caught in his throat as he slowly looked her up and down, 'I know, but it's not too bad,' he smiled and laughed as she downed his beer.

'I was drinking that, you know!'

Clara smirked, her gaze filled with mischief as she lent closer, 'Is that so? Here, have a taste,' she leant forward, her lips on his in a swift motion before she could change her mind.

She giggled against his lips, feeling him stiffen underneath her again, his muscles tensing up, 'Take it easy… I wasn't going to take your virtue,' she teased, sinking back onto the couch, her heart racing.

John rolled his eyes and sank back on the couch himself, glaring at her, 'I'm not a virgin,' he told her sternly, crossing his arms over his chest.

'Are you?'

Clara turned a bright red and swallowed, 'Kind of… I mean, I've experimented with a girl, but never a guy,' she told him, rather shy as she groaned and slapped his chest when he sent her a baffled expression.

'Oh, shut up.'

John snorted, 'Don't tell Vastra and Jenny that, they'll have their way with you,' he teased, sending her a wink.

'Alright, alright! I was just expecting you to you know… slept with somebody by now, you're pretty and intelligent, who wouldn't sleep with you? Are you gay?'

Clara rolled her eyes, 'No, I like men and women… I just, don't know,' she told him, standing up to avoid his stare.

She turned and looked at him as if he'd grown a second head, 'You think I'm pretty? I thought you down to get devoured by Mrs Robinson?'

John arched his eyebrow and frowned at her, 'What? Who?' once he realised it was a joke, he rolled his eyes at her.

'Alright, very funny. And yes, I do think you're pretty,' he finished, enjoying the fact she was squirming around him and looked completely terrified.

'Calm down, Clara… I just called you pretty, you do have a boyfriend, it's just a compliment,'

'Boyfriend?' she rolled her eyes, her voice stern, 'I'd hardly call him that, it was just one date, John.'

She began to see the first crack of dawn spreading over his face, 'Come on, let's go to bed…' she smiled, offering her hand out to him.

John nodded and took hold of her hand, letting her take him into her dorm room. They fell asleep almost instantly awoken by River looming over them with two cups of coffee.

'You two better stop cuddling before Jack gets in here and wins the £50 bet on you two that you're secretly fucking,'

Clara yawned, batting her eyes open to see a still shirtless John beside her. She smiled softly before realising River was in the room, 'What? What bet?' she muttered, her voice still laced with sleep.

River laughed and rolled her eyes, messing with her overly curly hair, 'Come on, little dove,' she smirked and tilted her head to the side, waiting for her to climb out of bed.

Once Clara was up, she handed her coffee to her, 'The bet is £50 that you and John are secretly sleeping together,'

Clara groaned, looking between John and River before taking a sip of her coffee. It smelt like hazelnut and Clara couldn't help but let out a groan as the warm liquid soothed her throat.

'Well, that's just silly… It should be far more than that,' she grinned, winking at John once he was up, handing him his coffee.

John groaned, running his hand through his overly curly brown hair, sipping his cup of coffee as he looked at Clara over the rim of his cup, 'Thank you,' he muttered in a husky voice, realising just how deep it sounded as he cleared his throat.

'There's a bet on us? Well, I can tell you now, we're not secretly fucking. Although, it's pretty obvious that you and Eleven are,' John shot a look at River and watched as the woman winked at him and nodded her head.

'Not really a secret, John. You're just utterly oblivious to everything,' she laughed and nudged Clara, an unspoken moment between the two girls that John completely missed.

'She's right you know, you're completely oblivious,' Clara muttered, watching as River left their side and joined Eleven on the couch, the two of them laying there in their pyjamas, cups of coffee in their hands and giggling to themselves made Clara only want John more, she wanted that, she wanted what Eleven and River had.

John nodded his head, sulking back into his room to get dressed. Once he was ready, he picked up a book and opened the door, tilting his head to the side, 'Come on, Clara, we've got class. Hey, maybe we'll fuck in the closet on the way to class,'

Clara simply cocked her brow, catching on to his little game, 'Or, maybe we'll fuck on the Headteacher's desk…' she smirked, throwing her bag over her shoulder.

He laughed and opened the door for her, the two of them in sync as they headed out to class. Vastra popped up from behind both Eleven and River, making the two of them jump as she chewed down on a sandwich she had made.

'Those two are literally in sync… are you trying to tell us they're not actually together?'

Jenny gave Vastra's bum a slap as she chimed in, kneeling down on the floor next to her girlfriend, 'Well, it's obvious they aren't… She's too stubborn and he's too shy, he won't make the first move,'

Jenny grinned to herself, 'Boys really do make everything more complicated than it needs to be,' she sighed, her Cockney accent obvious as she sent Vastra a little wink.

Vastra leant over to kiss the top of her girlfriend's head, 'Which is why I prefer girls, my dear,' she sighed, pushing a strand of the other girl's hair behind her ear.

'Fancy a walk in the park? It's a nice day,'

Jenny nodded, a quirk of her lips as her hand slipped into Vastra's, 'Doesn't sound like such a bad idea, darling…'

Once they had left and the door slammed shut, Rory blushed a deep red colour and pulled a funny face at Amy. They were sat outside on the balcony, Amy's feet up on his lap as they sat opposite each other. Rory was studying a book on Medical history throughout the ages and Amy, well, Rory wasn't quite sure what the redhead was reading through.

'Do you think those two will ever get together?' Rory asked her, referring to Clara and John.

The redhead shrugged, taking out a lighter and a cigarette as she lit it up and placed her book on the table, dropping her feet from Rory's lap, 'I think they already are, they just don't it yet. Did you see how jealous John got at hearing about Danny?' she smirked, sending Rory a wink.

Back in River's dorm, Eleven was laying over River, his arm draped across the woman's naked body, 'I don't think John and Clara can out do us in being the hottest couples in University,'

River simply smirked, 'Oh, really? Clara is quite beautiful, though…' she teased him, watching as he twitched with jealously, his brown hair flopping over his eyes.

River couldn't help but nip at his shoulder, 'Don't be so jealous, you know I adore you… Could possibly love you eventually, if you told me your name,'

Eleven growled in response and sank his teeth into River's hip, his finger running down her side, 'If I tell you my name, will you promise not to tell anybody else? It's a normal name, I just like being called Eleven,'

River cried out as he sank his teeth into her hip, glaring at him playfully, 'I bet it isn't a normal name,' she mused, rolling the skinny man over to lay across him, her chin digging into the top of his chest.

'I bet its Norbert or Gene,'

Eleven rolled his eyes, 'It's Matt, actually,' he laughed at River's confused stare and rolled her back over onto her side, tickling her until she was laughing too hard and slapping at his chest to get him to stop.

Outside of their dorm rooms, Clara sat in the courtyard, under a massive oak tree, a classic Jane Austen book in her hand as the Autumn breeze ran across her knees. The wind was whistling against her ears, yet she could hear the rustling of leaves as someone stepped up from behind her.

John sat down beside her, his keys hitting the chain around his jeans as he got comfortable on the ground. He laughed when he saw her book, ruffling his curly hair that seemed to be growing every day.

'Really? Jane Austen, again? Do you ever read anything different? Please, tell me you've read Stephen King's work and don't tell me he's overrated because he really is not,' he pointed at her, a stern look on his face as his thick Scottish accent stuck out like a sore thumb.

Clara didn't know whether to laugh or glare at him, she decided on neither as she opted for pulling him down next to her, 'He loves to draw out the story, and that is simply boring,' she chuckled, closing her book.

Clara noticed the sketch book sitting across his lap, 'What do you have there?' she pointed and slapped him when John made a crude dick joke, 'I mean the sketch book…'

Before John could react, Clara grabbed at his sketch book and started to flip through it, 'No, don't look at that!' he yelled, blushing a bright shade of red as she saw her own face staring back at her.

'I, um, I like the shape of your mouth when you smile… I concentrate on your smile, mostly.'

Clara blushed profusely, she didn't know whether to be flattered or creeped out by it. After a few moments of silence, admiring his sketches, she decided she was flattered. They really did her justice. She was about to say something when one particular sketch caught her eye.

She hummed in thought, but laughed instead, 'You know… You don't have to spy on me to draw me…' she mused, handing him his work back.

'You're very talented, John Smith, and I wouldn't mind posing for you, if you ask nicely.' She teased, smirking as she stood, flinging her bag over her shoulder as she went to her final class.

John stuttered over his words, confused and more than a little bit turned on by the prospect of drawing Clara naked… He shook the thought from his head and stood up, 'I might just ask you that,' he murmured, before turning and walking back to the dorm rooms.

 _Fucked,_ he was _fucked_. Clara Oswald had him wrapped around her little finger.


	4. Chapter 4 - Speaking in Tongues

Clara walked in a little after six, her muscles sore as she walked into the living area.

She rolled her eyes at Eleven and River, who seemed to be tapping each other's noses and giggling afterwards. What was so entertaining about that? Clara turned her head to the side, to find Jenny and Vastra staring at each other lovingly. She needed to get away from this place and fast.

'I guess no one is up for sushi,' she scoffed, walking along her corridor as she knocked on John's door.

'I'm starving… Want to head out?'

John's head popped up from behind his duvet and swallowed hard, 'Um…' he trailed off, clearing his throat as he hid a drawing of what appeared to be Clara naked, only he had imagined it for himself, he wasn't that much of a creep.

'Sure, hold on a second!' he called out, standing in the mirror to sort out his mess of a mop and seconds later, he opened the door.

'Hi,'

Clara eyed him suspiciously, he seemed anxious, and yet she couldn't deny how hot he looked with his curly hair flopped over his head. His trousers insanely tight, or how he was presently wearing nothing under his open leather jacket.

'Are you always bare chested? Not that I'm complaining,' she teased, sending John a wink.

John cleared his throat and shuffled about on the spot, his blue eyes suddenly finding the floor very interesting, 'Um…' John muttered, the blush creeping up his neck.

He had slept with so many girls he had lost count, yet Clara seeing his chest made him blush? What the hell was happening to him?

John shook his head and took a deep breath, 'Let me just get dressed,' he smiled and almost slammed the door in her face, not really meaning to.

Clara jumped back at the sudden door slam, 'Rude!' she exclaimed, fixing her skirt as she waited for him to get ready.

Once he came back out, Clara laced her arm with his as they walked out of Uni, 'How about sushi?'

John nodded, a little nervous at how close she was to him. What the hell was happening? Why was he acting like a twelve year old girl over her first crush? He rolled his eyes behind her back and then smiled warmly when she asked about sushi.

'Sushi is good, is it your favourite?'

Clara smiled and nodded, ignoring all of the snickering behind them as they left. Clara cocked her eyebrow, 'We most certainly are not going in that, are we? That has to be like, twenty years old!' Clara teased, referring to his motorbike.

John simply hopped on and handed her a helmet. Clara rolled her eyes as she put on the helmet and wrapped her arms around his chest, her heart beating at the close proximity.

John felt a jolt of electricity run through him, placing the viser down on his helmet as he started up the old bike, it had been his father's, his real father's, not his adoptive one.

'Ready?!' he yelled, shouting over the nose of the bike. When she nodded her head yes, they took off together, heading into town for food.

Clara's legs wobbled as she hopped off the bike, 'Rides better than she looks,' she mused, taking off the helmet as she handed it back to John.

Once inside, Clara could sense something was on his mind, 'I'm not that lousy of company, am I?' she asked him, stuffing her face with another roll of sushi.

'No, of course not – I just, uh… I wanted to know how serious it was with Danny,' he spat it out, smiling at her warmly.

'Not because I'm interested, not that you're not pretty, I just – I, um, I wanted to draw you naked, if that's okay…'

Clara smiled at the thought, but it quickly turned into a frown when he said he wasn't interested. Her eyes widened in shock, 'No, no, it's okay, I'm not interested either…' she lied, as she thought of an excuse to make an exit.

'Fuck, I forgot about Danny – I have a date with him tonight,' she lied, standing up to leave.

Truth was, she let Danny go that same night. Clara walked to her favourite hidden spot on campus grounds, watching the hours go by before she went back to the University.

John was stuck in his dorm room a while later, playing overly loud music as Amy, Rory, River and Eleven sat outside his room, staring at his door. River sighed and shook her head, 'He only ever does this when something bad has happened. Where's Clara?'

Clara could feel her cheeks stained with tears as she walked through the corridor, ignoring Jack's crude remark and yet she didn't feel 'giddy' enough to comment back. As Clara walked by, Amy just about reached up and tugged on her towel, not managing to pull it off, thank god, but managing to pull Clara down onto the ground.

'He has been in there for five hours listening to music. Do you know what's wrong? Did he get bad news from home?'

Clara quickly wrapped herself again, shrugging, 'I don't know why he's so upset – he was the one acting like a prick last night,' she growled, glaring down her taller friend.

'Can I go and take a shower please?'

Amy frowned and arched her eyebrow at her, 'Wait – what? So something did happen last night? What happened? Tel us, it's not like he can hear you,' she encouraged her friend, nudging Eleven in the shoulder as he winced but nodded his head at her, Rory automatically agreeing with Amy as he always did and River seemed too focused on the door.

Clara held onto her toiletries in one hand whilst holding the towel firmly against her with her other hand, 'Nothing happened, that's the problem! He told me perfectly clear that he wasn't interesting in me, now could I please leave and take a fucking shower?!' she yelled, walking towards the end of the corridor where the showers were.

Eleven looked slightly confused as he meddled with his fingers, 'What just happened?'

Rory frowned, 'Why does Clara care if John is interested in her or not?' he asked once the short brunette was out of earshot and jumped when Amy thumped him on the back of his head.

'Ow! What was that for?' he whined, holding onto his head as River rolled her eyes and tore her gaze away from the door.

'She loves him, stupid.'

Clara had spent her entire day in classes, she only came back to the dorm to make herself dinner. She noticed everyone except John lounging about the room. River and Jack were bickering over who was the greater kisser and then they would ask Eleven, who had managed to kiss both of them at some point and he blushed furiously and refused to answer. Clara shrugged as they asked her opinion and simply flopped onto the couch beside Eleven as Jenny went around handing everybody letters from home. Clara was surprised when she received one, her heart instantly shattered as she read that her grandmother was terribly ill and on the verge of passing.

John emerged from his dorm room, his music finally off as he took his letter from Jenny and sat himself at the opposite side of the room from Clara, sitting on the couch in between River and Jack as he stared at David and Rose in the corridor who seemed far too interested in each other to pay attention to what was going on. John's hair was a mess, it looked like it hadn't been brushed in weeks and he smelt of smoke almost constantly. John ripped open his letter, swallowing as he read about his adoptive youngest sister who had apparently just started school and his eldest brother who had just got a new job, it was good news on his part and cheered him up a little, smiling at the drawing his eight year old sister had done for him.

Clara grasped Eleven's hand as she tried not to break in front of everyone. She handed the letter to him, her eyes burning as she looked up at him, 'Can you take me there – now?' she said in between a sob and a gasp of air.

Amy instantly noticed something was wrong and yanked the letter from Eleven.

Amy frowned and read it over, 'Oh, my god…' she whispered, gaining everybody's attention, even John's who's smile dropped in an instant.

'Clara, I'm so sorry… We can all be there for you, I promise. Can we all come with you?'

Clara shook her head, 'Thank you, Amy, it means a lot, but I'm not sure you'll all be allowed inside. I just need somebody to drive me there – who brought their car, or something?'

John cleared his throat and raised his hand from the corner of the room, smiling weakly as he read the letter that had been passed around, 'Um, I have my motorbike,' he offered, scratching as his stubble as everybody shook their heads, nobody else had any form of transport.

Clara nodded, standing and quickly grabbing her bag as she ran to his motorbike. Clara purposely avoided to wrap her arms around him as she grabbed ahold from the side of the bike. Once they arrived, she thanked him awkwardly.

'You don't have to wait… I'll find a way back home,' she said, moving inside just in time to see her grandmother before she passed away.

John refused to leave, he wasn't about to leave her side now, she needed somebody and it just happened to be him. He waited outside on his motorbike until she emerged, a small smile on his face when he saw her. It was a sad smile, but a smile. John handed her the helmet and climbed onto his bike, not saying a word. He knew what had happened.

Clara didn't say a word as she placed the helmet over her head, her arms wrapping around him tightly as she sobbed silently against his back. She didn't care that he wasn't interested in her, she just needed somebody to lean on right now. Once they were back at the University, John silently took her back to her room, noticing the stares of their friends. John shook his head at them and that told them all they needed to know. Once they were inside, John wrapped his arms around Clara and held her close to his chest, his chin on top of her head.

Clara cried herself to sleep for a second day in a row, her arms wrapped around his skinny frame as she sobbed until she didn't have any tears left in her. Her heart broke, but she soon found sleep in John's arms. John laid her down properly, but instead of leaving her, he laid beside her, his arm draped over her body. It broke his heart to see her like this, he knew that now, he wasn't going to hold back from Clara anymore.

Clara awoke the next morning, her throat dry and her eyes puffy from crying all night and she felt a little dehydrated. She stretched and was startled to find John's arms draped over her, she tried to shuffle out of his grasp, but every time she did, he seemed to pull her closer.

'J – John…'

He grumbled in response, not really awake as he pulled her closer to him, her back to his chest as his face nuzzled into her hair, she smelt so good and warm against him. Clara couldn't help the smile that spread across her face, her heart warmed by his considerate actions last night. She decided to stay put a little longer, her arm draped over his as she moved back against his chest.

'Go back to sleep,' Clara murmured, closing her eyes once more.

So what if she was late for class? She had better things to do, like staying in the arms of the man she loved.

A few hours later, John awoke to find his face full of Clara's hair and coughed a little. His arm was draped over her stomach and she didn't appear to be naked so they didn't sleep together. And then he remembered, he was cuddling her because she had lost her grandmother yesterday.

John took a deep breath, his hands reaching out to push back the strands of her hair, 'Clara, love, we've missed two of our classes…'

Clara only grunted in response, a lazy smirk on her face as he called her love. Did he really feel that way for her, or was he just being considerate of the situation?

'I don't feel like going to my classes today,' she muttered under her breath, turning in his embrace.

'Thank you…' Clara sighed, her voice husky with sleep as she leant forward and placed a kiss on his cheek.

'I'm sorry, about the other night…'

John nodded, his stubble scratching her face as she kissed his cheek, 'So am I,' he whispered, his voice barely there as he wrapped his arms around the small girl, the sheets tangling between them.

John's leg slipped in between hers, her face on his chest as he dropped his chin onto the top of her head, they seemed to fit together perfectly, although he wouldn't mention that to Clara.

Clara's words became muffled as he pressed her against his chest, as much as she loved the feeling of his body pressed against her own, she knew better. Knew she had things to do. Clara shuffled out of his embrace and stood, a little smirk as she saw him sprawled over her bed.

'I'm glad I could count on you, even if you're not interested in me,' she winked, teasing him as she bent to kiss his forehead.

John caught her wrist before she could leave the room, but he seemed to chicken out and rather awkwardly said, 'Have a nice shower?' it came out of his mouth as more of a question than a statement.

She gave him a funny look and once she had left, John face palmed, muttering to himself.

 _What a fucking idiot._


	5. Chapter 5 - Date number two

Clara quickly showered and dressed before heading down the corridor and into the living area to make herself some lunch.

She accidentally walked in on Eleven and River in the kitchen, Eleven's pants down by his ankles and Clara couldn't help but laugh as Eleven instantly tried to pull up his jeans, whilst turning a bright red colour, 'Seriously, guys?! On the counter…' she sighed, rolling her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest.

River rolled her eyes and covered herself with her shirt, glaring at Clara, but she couldn't help the proud smirk on her face, 'Actually, we've christened every bit of furniture on this floor,' she smirked, giving Eleven a kiss as she stepped down from the counter and quickly dressed herself.

'I thought you were asleep, everyone else has gone to class. Apparently there's a new guy moving in next term when Rose and David move out, his name is Psi, or something? A lot of people call him a half computer he's so good at hacking,'

'I was… I don't feel like going to classes today,' Clara sighed, pouring her tea into her mug. Clara smirked at the mention of a new boy, 'Psi? Sounds eccentric, is he cute?' she asked, figuring she should try to move past John as he wasn't interested in her.

River shrugged, 'I would say so,' she smirked and stood in front of a mirror, sorting her curly hair out as Eleven glared at her.

'Oh, stop it, sweetie. You know I'm into you and only you,' she sent him a wink and then smirked at Clara.

'You should go on a date, he's handsome, but arrogant. Bringing his elder sister with him too, but she's on a different floor to us. I think he name is Saibra? God knows what their parents were thinking. Psi and Saibra,'

Clara laughed at her friend's relationship, she envied it a little bit, they seemed so opposite, yet so in love. She just wanted a fraction of what they had.

'I think you're right, it's time I stopped wasting my time in a lost cause,' she sighed as she took a sip of her tea, 'Oh gosh, that's sounds so hipster,' Clara rolled her eyes and placed the cup of tea down and turned to leave.

'Hey, you two, do me a favour and don't christen my room!' she yelled, wagging her finger at them before she turned to leave.

Clara let out a small 'oops' as she bumped into another human body. Whoever it was, was tall as she ran straight into their chest.

'Oh, god, sorry,' Clara said sheepishly, looking up to see who it was.

Her breath seemed to leave her body instantly as she gazed into the most beautiful pair of brown eyes she had ever seen, and she knew how dull brown eyes could be. His head seemed to be shaved on the left side, with a Tattoo on that same side that looked like the inside of a computer. He looked mesmerizing and Clara couldn't seem to tear her eyes from him.

'Y – You must be Psi?' she asked, but the statement came out as a question.

Get a hold of yourself, Oswald.

Psi nodded, a beaming grin on his face as he held out his hand, his big brown eyes locked onto hers. This girl was well, beautiful. He tried not to let it show that he fancied her, but judging by his facial expression and his reaction to the short girl, it was very obvious he did in fact, fancy her. A lot.

He held onto her hand and didn't realise he was still shaking it after a minute until she gave him a weird look, 'Right, yeah, sorry. I'm Psi, um, do you know me, exactly?'

Clara nodded to the kitchen, 'River's the resident FBI informant,' she mused, obviously joking.

'I'm Clara, Clara Oswald…' she said, nodding to the couch, 'Let me guess, you're an Engineering student or Computer science,' she said, squinting as she took a seat next to him.

Psi followed her, cracking his knuckles as a nervous tick. He took a deep breath and pointed to the Tattoo on the shaved side of his head, 'Computer science and Engineering, I take both courses, this is why I'm called the human computer, in case you were wondering,' he smiled, referring to his Tattoo as he messed with his dark hair.

'Thought it looked cool, but with the stares I get, I'm regretting my decision…What do you do then, Clara Oswald?'

Clara reached out to touch his Tattoo, it felt weirdly nice, 'I think it looks great,' she mused, clearing her throat as she dropped her hand from his head.

'I'm a Literature student, I want to teach children,'

She was afraid he'd find her boring, like most people did.

Psi nodded, pursing his lips. For some reason, he couldn't take his eyes off of her, she seemed to pull him in, 'You want to be an English teacher? That's quite cute, if you don't mind me saying,' he smiled, tilting his head to the side.

'Please don't take offence to that, I often put my foot in my mouth and say something I shouldn't have. Happens all the time with a brain like mine,'

Clara rested her hand on his arm, she could feel his muscular form even through his leather jacket, 'Nonsense, you should never apologize after a compliment, rule number one,' she teased, finding herself smiling.

Just then, she noticed John walking out of his dorm room, still slightly dishevelled, Clara ent him a friendly smile before warning him about River and Eleven in the kitchen.

John jumped, a little startled by Clara's voice and the presence of some funny looking guy next to her. Who was this guy? He nodded, smiling as he played it off as if he wasn't interested in what she happened to be doing.

'Thanks,' he mumbled, walking in the direction of the kitchen as he ignored River and Eleven stuck in a game of tonsil tennis.

Psi sat up straighter, staring at John who walked by, 'Who's he?' he asked, trying to not make his voice sound so… accusing. For some reason, he felt the need to protect Clara from other men that weren't him.

Clara ignored the accusatory question and simply laughed it off, 'That… is John Smith, music student and a good friend of mine,' she told him, giggling even more at Psi's worried look.

Clara cleared her throat, placing her hand on top of his reassuringly, 'Don't worry, he sees me more like a little sister actually,'

It may not have been the truth, but John had made it clear he wasn't interested. Eleven jumped away from River when he saw John walk in, 'You look like shit, mate. What's wrong?'

John cleared his throat, his eyes bloodshot as he took a deep breath, 'Eleven, how do you know if a girl likes you?' he questioned him, glancing to River who swaggered away back to her dorm room, covering herself in a blanket.

'How did you get River to like you? Or how did you know she liked you?'

Eleven smirked and stared after River, 'She thought I was asexual and not interested in anybody, until something clicked and now we're here,' he mused, watching as River disappeared into her room, closing the door behind her.

'I'm glad it did happen, or I'd probably still look like your sour ass,' Eleven teased him, leaning back against the kitchen counter after he had pulled his boxers and trousers up properly.

'So, who's the lucky lady you want to swoon?' he asked, waggling his eyebrows at John.

John cleared his throat and took out his packet of cigarettes, lighting one up as he placed it in his mouth, 'Oh, no one, really. I – I just, uh, have trouble actually speaking to women, or girls. I know you have a trouble speaking to them as well… But it seems like River just gets you, you know? I want Clara to -'

He stopped himself, blushing hard and wanting to punch his own face for saying her name, Eleven's eyes winded as he punched his arm, 'You old dog, I knew it was you she was upset about! What are you doing, dumbass? She loves you!'

John sighed and scratched the back of his neck, 'Yeah, about that…' he trailed off, pulling Eleven to one side as he spoke to him privately.

Later on, Clara was sat in front of Psi, smirking at him knowingly. She was nervous, she'd never gotten nervous before and even then she couldn't help the rush that came with it, 'Psi… Do you want to go out sometime?'

Psi stared at her, a little nervous as he took a deep breath, 'Um…' he whispered, chewing his bottom lip in thought.

'Are you sure that guy isn't going to be bothered by it? What was his name, John?'

Clara reassured him, a small smile on her face, 'Of that I'm certain,'

'He said he wasn't interested in me and made it very clear, we've just friends,' she sighed, trying to hide the fact that it stung her to admit it out loud.

'So, what do you say?' she smiled at him, her head turning to watch River walk out of the kitchen and arch her eyebrow at her, but Clara thought nothing of it.

Psi nodded, smiling at her as he shrugged his shoulders, 'I don't see why not,' he mused and lent forward to kiss her cheek, 'I'll pick you up tomorrow after our classes finish, if that's okay? We can out to diner,'

Clara nodded.

She spent the rest of the day getting dressed, fussing over what to wear until she settled on a maroon pantsuit. She checked herself once over in her vanity before noticing John standing in the door way. She sent him a smile, 'Anything I can help you with, John? I'm running a little late…'

John shook his head, shoving his hands into his pockets as he paid attention to what she was wearing, 'No, no, not at all. Are you going somewhere? Another date?' he whispered, watching her curiously. Why did he feel he feel jealous? Why did he care?

'Right, I've got to go, going to be late,' she sighed, bouncing her hair as she moved passed him.

She seemed giddy about the date, and yet a part of her wished it was John she was going on a date with.

Clara twirled on the spot, hoping to impress Psi, 'Well, how do I look?'

John seemed to be staring at her body before he cleared his throat and stood up straight, 'Um, yeah. You look great, enjoy your date,' he stumbled over his words and almost whacked his head on the door on his way out.

Clara stifled her laughter as she followed him out, it seemed they were both heading for the lift. And apparently, so was Jack.

'Clara, Clara, Clara, are you looking to get laid because…' he paused and whistled, smacking her hard on her ass.

'Who knows, it seems that's what everyone is here for,' she shrugged honestly, pushing Jack's hand away from her.

'Didn't you have a date with that guy? What was his name? Lando? Ianto?'

Jack snorted, 'Lando? What kind of name is Lando?' he smirked at her, an arch of his eyebrow as the overly loud American adjusted his tie.

'His name is Ianto, and I happen to like him, a lot. First guy I've ever really liked, if I'm honest. Are you going on a secret date with John?'

Clara shuffled awkwardly, glancing between Jack and John, 'Don't be silly Jack, everyone knows John doesn't see me like that…' she said, smiling nervously as she adjusted her own tie before walking out of the lift.

Her heart almost stopped as Psi stood there with a single red rose in his hand. Clara had to admit that even though she still loved John with all her heart, Psi was beginning to warm her heart, 'Is that for me?'

John looked down, clearing his throat awkwardly at the jolt of guilt he felt. Fuck, she thought he didn't like her in that way and yet he didn't have the balls to go running after her. Psi nodded, grinning from ear to ear as he spread his arms out to hug her, handing her the rose once they pulled away from each other.

'A single rose for a certain beauty,' Psi muttered, hoping she would understand the reference.

As the lift doors closed, Jack cleared his throat awkwardly and glanced at John, 'Ah, so you're not secretly fucking after all… I owe River £50, shit!'

Clara blushed and sent him a wink, acknowledging the reference before they walked to the restaurant.

Rory's face fell on the instant that he saw John come back through the door later on, nudging Amy carefully, 'Why does Clara think he doesn't like her? Can't she see how much she hurts him?'

'Plan still in play?'

Amy shrugged and sighed, looking up from the book she was reading, 'Because he doesn't tell her otherwise,' she muttered, watching as Rory walked over to her, she was more than confused.

'What plan?'

Eleven appeared out of nowhere as he flopped between them from behind the couch, 'Getting those two together, of course,'

'We have to do something, they both look miserable,' Rory added.

Jenny eyed them all curiously before asking what was going on. Once they told her, she definitely wanted in on whatever plan they had.

Vastra emerged from her dorm room in search for Jenny and frowned when she found them all huddled together on a couch, talking about something important. She arched her eyebrow and kneeled on the floor next to Jenny.

'Why are we all huddled on the floor? Are you talking about Jack, can we all agree the American accent is a bit overbearing?'

'God, yes,' came River's loud roaring voice as she wrapped her arm around Eleven's shoulders, 'So, what are we talking about? Everyone reconsidering that orgy?' she giggled, sending a wink in Jenny's direction.

Vastra arched her eyebrow and gave River's arm a slap, 'Back off, curly fry, she's mine! You have your own boyfriend,' she nodded to Eleven who seemed to be blushing too hard to listen to what they were saying.

Rory sighed and raised his voice over them all, 'So, what's the plan, guys? How do we get Clara and John together?'

'How about trapping them in a room?' suggested Rory.

After a few moments, Jenny held up her hand and smiled when Rory nodded at her, 'I know it sounds bad… But we can plan for John to go out somewhere and tell Clara he left because he thinks she doesn't love him? Maybe she'll run after him,'

Eleven and River were locked together at the lips, not bothering to listen. Rory nodded, 'That doesn't sound too shabby…' he said, nodding to Amy.

'Come on, legs, how are we going to do it?'

Amy glared at Rory, her eyes full of fire, 'Are you trying to piss me off, stupid?' she slapped his arm and turned to Jenny.

'I suppose we do it after Clara's date with Psi…' she trailed off, to which Jenny frowned and rested her chin on the palm of her hand.

'I do feel a bit bad though… Clara's taken a liking to Psi,' Jenny added.

Vastra nodded in agreement from beside her, 'What if we're breaking what could be her true love for something that might not work? Shouldn't John be the one to go after Clara?'

At the restaurant, Clara couldn't help but smile as Psi went on trying to explain something with a breadstick, she truly was having a great time with him.

Psi laughed and put down the breadstick, 'Sorry, it was the closest thing to a USB stick,' he smirked, watching her curiously as he tilted his head to the side.

'Don't take this the wrong way, Clara… But I wasn't expecting you to be interested in computers. You prefer books, if I'm right…'

Clara nodded, 'Books and art, but I can admire technology,' she teased, taking the piece of breadstick as she popped it into her mouth.

After a few more hours, the waiter came up to them, 'Restaurant will be closing soon,' he told them, it was then Clara realised they had spoken throughout most of the night.

Psi laughed and took out his wallet, smiling up at the waiter, 'Sorry, mate, we were talking for far too long and lost track of time,' he smiled and calculated the price before the waiter could hand it to him.

'Like a human computer,' he muttered, laying the money down as he sent Clara a wink.

Clara blushed as she stood and thanked the waiter for a lovely service. Once outside, she felt herself shiver as they made their way back to her dorm room.

Psi immediately took off his leather jacket, wrapping it around her shoulders as he pressed a gentle kiss to the side of her head, 'Don't worry, we'll be back soon. You're not too cold, are you?'

Clara smiled. Could she really be moving on from John? She doubt she ever could, but maybe Psi wasn't such a bad person to try it with. Clara knew something was off about their dorm, the lights seemed to be completely off and she walked in with a little caution.

Psi frowned, following in after Clara as he laughed a little nervously, 'Is it always this dark? It's only half eleven, I would have thought all the others would be out partying.'

Clara shrugged, just as confused. No one seemed to be home as the two of them continued to make their way through the building, 'Yeah, I'll be fine…' she told him, leaning over to kiss Psi on his cheek.

Psi nodded his head, giving Clara's hand a kiss before he left to check on his sister the floor below. Clara passed John's room and decided to knock. Only, the door creaked open and all that met her was the darkness of his room.

What the hell was going on? Where was every one?

Clara stared blankly at a small note on John's bed and picked it up, reading the specified location. Clara didn't bother telling Psi as she grabbed her over coat and left to join what she supposed was going to be John in that specified location.

Or was it somebody completely different?


	6. Chapter 6 - The Confession

Vastra happened to be waiting for Clara, a sad smile on her face as she reached for Clara's hands.

Once she took them, she squeezed her friend's hands, 'Clara, I believe we're friends now… And I want you to know that the others plan to trick you into thinking John has left the country because he thinks you don't love him and I know that you do, but I truly believe John can't give you what you need and maybe Psi can,'

Clara was a little bit confused. The note was specific, it said to meet him there, but Vastra was telling her differently, 'Why would they do that?' she sighed, rolling her eyes.

Clara immediately stormed off back to her dorm room, maybe Vastra was right. She had set her heights on the unattainable for that reason alone. John never showed a remote interest in her aside from being a really great friend. Maybe she should try to move on, like Vastra suggested.

The next day, Psi came knocking on Clara's dorm room, tickets in his hand as he was dressed in just trousers and a jumper, he held tickets to her favourite band she had loved since she was a little girl, he had remembered she mentioned it last night on their first date. Clara awoke in an oversized shirt she'd stolen from John the night he had slept over.

Once she had opened the door, she yawned and watched Psi bounce about in front of her. He looked handsome in that jumper, 'Oh, Psi, you shouldn't have!' she grinned, realising what he had done for her.

Clara threw her arms around him, holding onto Psi as tightly as she could. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed John appear from out of his dorm, their gaze caught for an instant and yet she could sense something was wrong.

John cleared his throat and carried on walking, not wanting to talk to her.

Psi beamed at Clara and held her tighter, 'Do you want to go? It starts tonight at eight, I could pick you up?'

Clara took a step back and nodded, smiling at him before he went on his way. Clara quickly showered, dressed herself and went on a search for John, 'Okay, so are you going to tell me what's wrong?'

As he turned around, their height difference was obvious, it was then Clara noticed the black eye. Her concern for him outweighed her annoyance, 'Who did this to you?' she whispered, reaching out to touch him.

John winced and slapped her hand way, 'Watch it,' he warned with a growl and took a deep breath.

'Nothing happened – I walked into a tree,'

Clara rolled her eyes, 'Oh, really?! And I suppose the tree walked right back into you, did it?' she growled, holding up his bloodied knuckles.

'Are you going to tell me what's wrong or am I going to have to force it out of you?' Clara sighed, using warm water to clean up his hand.

John swallowed and tried not to smirk, this was not a time for smirking. He took a deep breath and winced when she cleaned up his hand, 'I got into a fight with your ex,'

Clara stopped for a moment to look up at him, her stare rightfully confused, 'What? Why?' she asked, wondering what on earth would make somebody like John get into a fist fight.

John cleared his throat and stood up straight, chewing his bottom lip, 'He came up to me, said I'd stolen you from him, like you were his property. So I punched him.'

Clara laughed, covering his hand in a bandage, 'Good then, I'd hardly call him my boyfriend, only went on one date,' she told him, rolling her eyes.

Clara's heart raced as she caught his gaze, it was filled with something she couldn't describe, something different. She arose and softly pressed her lips to his black eye, 'Thank you John, but you didn't have to defend my honour…'

John's heart skipped a beat at the gesture, his mind racing. He couldn't take it anymore, the tension between them… it was driving him mad. In one swift motion, he backed Clara up against a wall, his hands either side of her head, palms flat against the concrete as he kissed her with such a force he almost knocked her over. Clara didn't have time to react, her heart almost leapt out of her chest at the sheer force, it almost scared her. She thought the kiss would be hard, but as soon as his lips were on hers, she melted. They felt soft against her own, and sent an sensation right through her body, an undeniable spark she hadn't had with anybody else.

'Wait – what?!' Clara exclaimed, pushing him away when her better judgement resurfaced.

'You – You said you didn't…' she trailed off, dropping his gaze as she stepped back. She was utterly confused to say the least.

John swallowed, stepping back as he scratched the back of his neck, 'Said I didn't what, Clara?' he growled, clearly frustrated with her as he stepped forward, 'You have done nothing but push me away, Clara. But I can't take it anymore, alright? I can't take it! I just needed to do that, I needed you to know that…' he stopped half way, his eyes dropping to the floor.

'I just needed you to know,'

Clara swallowed. She could see him breaking apart right in front of her, her own face surely matched his expression. She cupped his face in her tiny hands, hoping he would raise his head to look at her. The pain and frustration was clear in his eyes, 'Everything you're about to say, I already know…'

Clara pressed her lips against his own, only this time she didn't push him away. She let herself melt in his grasp. A soft moan escaping her as she felt his hands pull her against his body, 'I thought you didn't want me… You said you weren't interested, it's why I left that night – Why I keep trying to move on from you, but I can't, my heart won't let me.'

John took a deep breath, his lips pressed against hers. Once she pulled away and said what she needed to say, his lips brushed hers again, wanting nothing more than to kiss her again, 'I know, Clara, I know…' was all he said before he tilted his head back, thumbs caressing her cheeks.

'Do you think I care for you so little that betraying me like that would make a difference?' he stared at her, referring to the fact she had been on dates with two guys right in front of his face.

His eyes darted from her lips and back to her eyes, drowning in the darkness of them.

Clara swallowed. The doubts washing away as she took hold of his jacket and crashed her lips against his, they felt so soft, and she knew she never wanted to stop kissing him, never wanted to leave his arms. John carefully pushed her back onto his bed, crashing down on top of her as he dropped his full weight on her, knowing he couldn't hurt her from how skinny he was. His arm tucked underneath her neck, he spent minutes just kissing her, his hands appreciating every curve and dip of Clara's body.

Clara knew her blush didn't just stop at her cheeks as he slowly rid her of her clothes, his hands were so delicate and gentle, almost loving, 'John…?' she breathed, wondering if he had any protection.

John reached over and opened his draw, taking out a condom as he bit it and tore it apart, a gentle smile on his face whenever he looked at her. He covered her body in kisses, making sure to take all of his clothes off but his boxers so she could feel at ease about getting naked in front of him.

'You're perfect…' he whispered, chewing his bottom lip as he lent forward to kiss along her jawline, undoing her bra as he threw it on the floor.

Clara smirked as she took the condom from him and pushed down his boxers, rolling it along his length. He was big and a little too thick, she was worried if he would even fit. She kept her eyes on him, her hand shook as she touched him, her nervous obvious. He felt so hot underneath her, and yet she was the one shaking.

'John, I…' she muttered, but he quickly shushed her.

His finger rested on her bottom lip, his heart pounding in his chest, 'Do you want this?' John whispered, watching the glow of her skin as the light spilled in from the window.

'Because I can stop if you don't…'

Clara shook her head, her own fingers pushing back the loose strands of her hair, 'I want this… I want you, I just,' she shielded her gaze, swallowing hard.

'I don't have much experience aside from my friend Nina,'

Her body shivered under his touch, his blue eyes burning right through her, 'I'm ready…'

John nodded, a weary smile on his face as he took a deep breath and kissed along her jawline, reaching down to touch her, 'I love you…' he admitted, his voice hoarse and deep, his eyes vulnerable as he looked at her.

Clara smiled, a few tears rolling down her cheeks at the confession, 'I love you too, John,' she whispered, her arms wrapping around him. Her hands moved to his back, pressing her lips against his.

John bent to kiss her, his heart racing as he took hold of her hand and pinned it up by her head, holding her in an almost loving embrace as his free hand reached down and slowly, he slipped inside of her, his lips brushing hers in comfort in case he hurt her, his eyes on hers the entire time.

Clara bit down on her lip as she felt him move inside of her, she whimpered, but gave him a reassuring nod for him to continue. They soon found a rhythmic pace as her legs wound across his bare ass.

John growled under his breath, trying his best to control their pace, not wanting to go any faster in case he hurt her. He squeezed her hand in comfort, his lips brushing hers, 'Feel good? I can't believe we waited this long for something that feels this good…'

Clara moaned, her back arching off of the mattress as she felt the sweat beginning to build. Her eyes fixed on his as she let out a growl she wasn't expecting to make, 'Feels more than good,' she muttered, kicking his ass with her foot to get him to move quicker.

John groaned, his breath hot by her ear as he pushed all the way inside of her, releasing her hand so he could grab the headboard of his bed. Once she had adjusted to his full size, he quickly began to move his hips at a pace that had her jaw dropped and her eyes inflated.

Clara's breath caught in between short pants, her heart beating wildly as she dragged her nails down his back, 'Fuck!' she whispered, letting out an almost animalistic moan as her back arched dramatically.

He slowed down his pace, but only slammed in and out of her as hard and as deep as he could, he could feel the wood underneath the headboard starting to snap. John bent down, his lips brushing against hers, 'Are you close?'

Clara whimpered, nodding her head, 'Y- Yes, I'm close… Don't stop, please,' she pleaded, feeling her muscles clench around him. She bit down on his shoulder, crying out his name whilst she came around him.

John growled, the sound of her moans only edged him on further as he slammed in and out of her, the headboard creaking. Seconds after her, John came hard inside of her. Once he had calmed his breathing, he slipped out of her and rolled onto his back, panting heavily. John pulled the sheets over their waists, chucking the condom in the bin.

Clara sighed, resting her arm over his damp, yet perfect chest, 'That was…' she whispered, smirking as she looked up at him. It was then Clara heard sharp banging on her door opposite John's room.

'Fuck, I had a date with Psi tonight…'

John suddenly shot up in bed, his heart racing as he swept back his dark curls, 'Shit,' he murmured, looking to his dorm room.

'Um, do you want me to text River? Get her to tell him it isn't working and you have to cancel?'

Clara sighed, 'I'll let him know tomorrow about,' she gestured between them, 'Unless…'

John looked her up and down, loving the way she stretched, her hair falling against her breasts, 'You're so beautiful…' he mused, bending to kiss along her jawline and down her throat.

'I could spend all day in bed with you,'

Clara let her gaze fall down, his curls sweaty as they cascaded and shaped his face, 'You're adorable…' she whispered, humming in pleasure as she felt his lips kiss a pathway between her breasts.

'I wouldn't mind spending all term in your arms…'

John lifted his head up to send her a wink, 'You know, you just might…' he murmured before his head disappeared in between her thighs.

He knew now everything between them was going to be just fine.


	7. Chapter 7 - Baby Daddy

Hours later, they woke up in bed together, tangled in the sheets. John yawned and lent over to check the time, a smirk on his face as he glanced to Clara laying fast asleep on her stomach, 'Darling, its eight thirty… We have half an hour to head to class,'

Clara only grumbled in response before she arose carefully, 'Fuck… I have a test today,' she swallowed, a little bit panicked as she flipped onto her back, her head spinning from the swift motion.

John laughed and sat up, clearly amused by her eagerness to go and complete her test. He was more laid back, being a music student, he didn't have many exams to complete, apart from performing in front of his lecture hall. He lent forward and placed a single kiss on her shoulder.

'Don't panic, you're top of the class all the time, you have nothing to worry about.'

Clara rolled her eyes, 'Easy for you to say, I was supposed to study,' she groaned, her tone playful.

Clara stood up and pulled on her knickers and trousers, a wide smile on her face as she noticed how he was still sprawled across his bed, stark naked.

'I'll see you soon…' she whispered lovingly, pressing a kiss to his shoulder before leaving.

A few hours later, Clara walked back into the dorm, she was sure she passed her exam and wanted to celebrate with john. But before she could even walk across the living area to reach him, Jack intervened her pathway and slapped John hard across the back, handing him a wad of cash.

'I didn't think you'd actually pull it off… Sleeping with her before the term was over,' he mused.

Clara's heart suddenly sank when she heard Jack's words. Was it all just a bet? Clara was on the verge of tears, but quickly dried them as she walked up to them and forced John to face her, she didn't give him a chance to speak as she slapped him as hard as she could across the face, turning to walk from the room.

John winced, almost falling right off his feet when Clara slapped him as hard as she did, 'How can a person as small as you hit THAT hard? What was that for?!' he exclaimed, glancing to Jack who held his hands up and backed away.

Oh.

She had heard them.

John swallowed roughly and stared down at his feet, 'Clara, I can't make excuses for what you heard… But I didn't do all this just to win a bet.'

Clara crossed her arms and scoffed, 'No! You clearly did it for the money,' she swallowed, glancing to his hands that held the wad of cash.

Clara raised her hands defensively, keeping him at arms length, 'Don't – Just keep away from me, John!' she yelled, the frustration clear in her voice as she ran back to her dorm.

A few weeks later, Clara had put in a transfer to a different dorm, and had hardly seen him since then, 'Why do I need to go? He'll be there,' she told Amy, who'd been trying to force her to go to a party.

'Anyways, look at me, I'm getting so bloated and I don't even know why,'

Amy sighed and rolled her eyes at her, 'You can't avoid him forever, Clara…' she muttered, sending her friend a sympathetic gaze, 'You go to the same University, with the same friends. And you're so stubborn you can't even let him explain himself,'

Amy laid back on the couch, her feet on the wall as Clara did the same, 'Wind? I don't know why you're bloated, but knowing you, you're being dramatic about it.'

Clara bit on her lower lip, she'd missed her period, but she was sure it was nothing, or rather hoped. Whatever it was, she couldn't tell Amy, she knew she'd go telling Rory and word might get out.

Clara let out a puff of air as she slapped her arm, 'I know what I saw, it was clear, but you're right, I can't spend the rest of the year locked in my room.'

Clara jumped up and headed to her closest, 'I need a revenge outfit… Something that'll make him realise what his lost,'

Amy sighed and decided to just let Clara do what she wanted, she could deal with the consequences later, 'Why don't you make him jealous with a woman?' she muttered, an arch of her eyebrow as the redhead ran her fingers through her hair.

'Boys hate it when their ego is bruised by a girl fucking his ex,'

Clara rolled her eyes, 'No, I don't want to sleep with any of his ex girlfriends, Amy,' she shot her a weird look, 'I just want to make him miss when he briefly had,'

Clara changed in front of her, into a tight black dress, that just happened to be lace, 'What about this one? Does it scream, fuck me?'

The redhead looked her up and down, 'Uh,' Amy cleared her throat and placed her book down, taking notice of the dress she was wearing, 'I'd fuck you in that, and I'm not into girls.'

Clara sent her a wink, 'Maybe if Rory doesn't mind,' she teased, quickly doing her make up.

Clara put on her heels, adding a couple of inches to her height before walking out with Amy, and towards the party. She had a good feeling about tonight.

Once they arrived, Amy went straight over to the alcohol, downing her first shot as she forced a couple of shots down Clara and once they were relatively tipsy, John had arrived. He had changed completely, his beard was gone, no stubble in sight and he had cut his hair short and shaved at the sides. He was wearing tightly fit trousers, a white shirt and a smart blazer and Amy had to admit, he looked good.

Clara pushed her friend's hand away as she tried to force her to take another shot. For some reason, it wasn't sitting well with her tonight. Her senses seemed extra sensitive as she got a bad waft of food and she quickly ran to the restroom before throwing up very drop of alcohol she had drank. She gave herself a once over, before approving of her appearance, she still looked acceptable. Clara walked from the bathroom, and only regretted it when she found herself standing right in front of John, she had to admit, he looked pretty good in those tight trousers.

John grabbed at her forearms so she couldn't fall over, a gentle sigh escaping his lips as he simply stared at her, really it was just an excuse to touch her, 'Hi,' he almost growled, trying to make it out as if he was still mad at her.

Flashes of them making love raced through his head as he quickly avoided eye contact with her, 'Have a nice night,' he told her, before brushing past Clara and leaving her stood there.

Clara rolled her eyes, mumbling a few curse words under her breath before leaving in the other direction. She hated the way he made her feel, why was it always so complicated between them?

Clara spent the next couple of hours dancing and ultimately laughing once more, until she saw him with someone, someone much prettier than herself. Her eyes lingered down until she spotted a ring on her finger and immediately grabbed Amy, letting her know she was leaving early.

Amy raced after her, grabbing her coat as she mostly ran after her, 'Clara!' she yelled, turning her to face her as she looked her in the eye, 'Why are you running away for? What's gotten into you? Do you really hate him that much you can't even be in a room with him?'

Clara stopped mid stride, before turning to face her, 'He's with someone! The tight clothes, the clean shave, that's all her doing,' she spat, her arms flying about to make her point.

'For fuck sake, Amy, she had an engagement ring on, he has clearly moved on! I clearly didn't mean shit to him!' she exclaimed, suddenly feeling a wave of nausea before she threw up into the bush beside them, wiping her face.

Amy sighed and immediately ran to her friend, rubbing her back, 'Clara, come on, don't be ridiculous, he isn't engaged. It's only been weeks, he wouldn't have moved on that quickly,' she whispered, she believed in John, she had faith he was a better man than that.

'You know him, you know he loves you, everybody can see that,'

Clara groaned, standing upright as she gestured her arm forward, 'Is that me overreacting?!' she motioned towards John and the girl he was with, who just happened to be kissing in front of everyone.

'Weeks can seem like a lifetime if he wasn't interested in me to begin with,'

A few more weeks later, and Clara realised she was in fact, pregnant and not just bloated.

She remembered crying throughout the entire night, with the test in her hand. What was she going to do? Her father would kill her, kill the baby she had growing inside of her. Clara soon dropped out of University before anyone could realise she was pregnant, she stayed with her best friend Nina and began working at a local diner.

When John had heard Clara had dropped from University, himself, River and Jack went on a search for her as Amy refused to tell him where she was. They were on a break from their search when they came to a diner, picking a booth to sit in. John looked over the menu, his shades on as a frown spread over his face when he felt River slapping at his arm.

John sighed and glared at her, 'What?' he murmured, turning his head to where River was pointing to and his eyes widened when he saw Clara.

She was sat with her back to them, her brown hair tied up and wearing a blue and white waitress uniform. His blue eyes dropped and widened even further when he noticed the baby bump.

Clara was drinking a milkshake as she sat on the stool, on a break from her shift. It was hell working there, the constant unwanted advances from sleazy men, the pay, but she had to push through if she wanted to have her baby. She sighed, but jumped when she felt someone touching her shoulder. Her heart almost fell out of her chest when she saw John in front of her, looking behind him to notice River and Jack sitting at a booth. She was about to tell him to leave, when he simply sat next to her.

'I can't talk, I have to get back to work.' She told him, standing up from the stool.

She was always trying to run away from him, and their problems.

John immediately stood up, moving to grab her hand as he turned her to face him, 'Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant? Why did you run away from me without letting me explain? All this over a stupid bet that didn't even matter,'

Clara pulled her wrist away from him, 'Stupid? Maybe it was stupid to you! You bet someone you could fuck me! I thought you loved me, John…'

Clara's boss quickly came to her side, asking if anything was wrong, and she simply shook her head and took out her pad and pencil, 'I have to go back to work, I can't talk right now,'

John sighed and stepped back, knowing he shouldn't push it. It was his fault she had run from him, but he wasn't expecting the fact they had made a child together. He clenched his jaw and made his way back to the booth, eating his food before he told River and Jack to meet him back at the University. John waited until Clara had finished her shift and continued to wait half the night before she came out to talk to him.

Clara pulled on her overcoat, and wrapped her scarf around her neck. It was dark and raining as she walked out of the diner. She sighed when she spotted John leaning against the wall, smoking a cigarette, 'Those things will kill you, ya know,' she muttered, pushing her hands into her pockets as she walked right past him.

John stamped it out and simply followed after Clara, 'Many things do, we all die in the end Clara, we just have to live our lives like every day is our last,' he sighed, stopping when she did.

Once she had turned around, his eyes fell on the slight bump of her stomach, 'Clara, I'm not saying this because I don't think you can look after our baby, you can… But, I think you should abort the baby,'

Clara stopped and turned to face him, her blood boiling as she slapped him across the face until he stumbled backwards, 'How dare you!' she yelled at him, shaking her head.

'Look, I get it. You had your little fun with me, even made a stupid bet… But don't worry about me being in your life, I know you're engaged, I know I meant nothing to you,' she sobbed, inhaling sharply as she looked him in the eye.

'For the record, this baby isn't even yours… So don't worry about it and fuck off! Go on, you get on your fucking motorbike and you go away! Go live your life!'

John managed to steady himself, staring at her in complete shock. He growled under his breath, rubbing at his cheek as the anger set in, 'I'm not engaged, you psycho! I kissed that girl to make you jealous and apparently it worked,' he spat, his glare tense and almost threatening as he dropped his hand from his face, shaking his head.

'You always were a terrible liar,' he muttered, pointing to her stomach, 'I care about that baby, I do, Clara, I really do. But right now, this baby is the worst thing that could happen to you right now. You need to complete University, you need a job, you can't support our child without a high paying job. Just… Think about the reality of it all, okay?'

Clara suddenly began to get highly defensive over her unborn child, 'This… This isn't your child, it's Psi's!' she yelled, knowing Psi had left the University and moved to the states, there was no way for John to verify it.

Her stare was cold as she watched him, how dare he want to get rid of their child!

'You may think a child is too much to handle, but I don't, I'll find a way to support my baby and myself,'

John shook his head, folding his arms over his chest, 'No, Clara… You really have no idea what you're doing,' he told her, knowing that mother's who had baby's young always gave them up.

'You're eighteen, it will get on top of you and then you will give that baby away and he or she will go through hell. Just think what's best for our son or daughter,'

Clara scoffed in exasperation, 'For the last time, this baby isn't yours!' she yelled, turning on her heel to walk away from John.


	8. Chapter 8 - John's guilt

A couple of months passed, and Clara had returned to University with her baby bump after her father agreed to let her have the baby and raise her.

She was barely passing classes, and had little too no social life.

'I'm always so tired now,' Clara sighed, glancing to her best friend.

Amy sighed and shot her a look, 'That might be because you're pregnant, Clara…' she muttered, reaching over to rub Clara's neck, giving her a massage.

'Tell me the truth, is this baby John's? Because he told Jack you used a condom, so it can't be his… You didn't sleep with Psi before he left for America, did you?'

Clara sighed, her shoulders sagging.

'I just want to help, Clara.'

Clara rolled her eyes, 'Condoms aren't fool proof, and we fucked through the night sometimes without a condom on,'

Clara relaxed into Amy's touch as she gave her a massage, 'He's the only man I've been with since I began University, I just told him he wasn't because he wanted me to have an abortion,'

The redhead cleared her throat and watched as Clara rubbed her stomach, 'Clara…' she trailed off, her Scottish accent thick.

'I think you might not be thinking about this properly, John has changed you. The Clara I met a year ago would not bring a baby into this world unless she was sure it had both parents and a home. At the moment, I'm sorry to say it Clara, but you have neither…'

Clara sat up, her face dropping, 'You too?' she sighed, moving away from the redhead.

Why was everyone pestering her to get and abortion?

'Amy, I can make this work, I don't need John, it's obvious he never loved me, as for a home, I have my father's in the meantime,' she sighed and picked up her book, chucking it into her bag and flinging it over her shoulder.

'I expected it from him, but not from you Amy. You know how much I love this little girl growing inside me, why would I want to kill her?'

Amy sighed and stood up, following after her friend, 'Clara, come on, don't be unreasonable. I know you love her, anybody would… But you need to think about this logically, you're too young, I'm sorry but I have to agree with John on this, you're throwing your education away, that you paid for. Maybe you don't have to abort her, but you can give her up for adoption.'

Clara scoffed, pulling away from her, 'No, I'm not! I'm actually doing great in my classes and keeping with my job after my classes and thankfully for me, neither of you have a say in the matter,' she snapped, walking from the room as spotted John staring at her.

John took a deep breath and sighed, a small smile on his face. Very awkwardly, he dropped his gaze from hers. He couldn't keep this up, the baby bump was only growing in size all the time, it was becoming difficult to ignore the literal elephant in the room.

Clara couldn't help but feel hurt by the way John looked at her. She walked right past him, about to walk down the stairs as she placed herself right in front of him.

'What's your problem? You wanted me to come back, for what? So you could just stare at me, make fun of me?!' Clara yelled, poking her finger into his chest as hard as she could.

'I love my baby girl and I am not going to give her up! Do you hear me?!' she exclaimed, knowing full well everyone else was listening in.

John stepped backwards, slapping her hand away as he sighed heavily, 'Clara, stop it.' He muttered, exhausted with arguing with her as he looked around to their friends staring at them.

'Every body thinks this is the wrong decision, don't embarrass yourself further.'

Clara was more than angry, she was furious. She wasn't thinking straight as she slapped him right across the face. He immediately grabbed her by the wrist, trying to get her to stop but Clara pulled away and went to slap him again, but she lost her footing and slipped down the stairs, her arms instantly wrapping around her baby bump as she fell to the ground.

Within seconds, blood began to pool between her legs, her heart racing as she seemed frozen in time.

John's eyes widened, frozen on the spot as the whole room grew suddenly silent. John raced down the stairs and knelt by Clara, his hands shaking as he looked at the blood pooling by her legs, 'Fuck, fuck…' he whispered, taking out his phone as he called an ambulance.

Jack ran over and helped Clara to her feet, carrying her towards the exist of the University and fifteen minutes later, the ambulance arrived and everybody was deathly silent. John nodded for Jack to go to the hospital with Clara, knowing full well he was the last person she wanted there with her whilst she lost her baby.

Clara lost more than her baby that day, she had lost John.

She took a month off from attending classes, before going back to a different dorm building. She had a simple marker done for her five month old baby girl that simply read 'Hope Oswald-Smith' John may not have wanted their baby girl, but she was as much a part of him as she was a part of Clara. Clara finished the year in good standing, she still kept her old job, just to save for her own flat whilst she attended her second year of University. They were all in the middle of Christmas break when Clara decided to walk towards the gravesite. She sat there for the entire day, just talking about her day to her baby girl. Jack was the only one to keep in touch with her, the only one that didn't treat her like a burden.

Jack stood behind Clara, his American accent softer than usual, 'Hello,' he whispered, smiling softly as he knelt by her, pulling his collar up against his neck.

'I had the same idea, figured Hope might be a little lonely. Did you tell John? That her last name is Smith?'

Clara shook her head, placing a stuffed teddy bear by the gravestone, 'Why would I? He didn't want her to begin with,' she whispered, turning to give Jack a faint smile.

'Thank you, for being here, I know you really didn't have to be here for me,'

Jack nodded, squeezing Clara's hand to comfort her as he raised it to his lips and kissed the back of her hand, 'Hope would be proud of you, Clara…' he told her, not wanting to put the pressure on any more about John.

But Jack figured somebody should tell her, 'John was admitted to a psychiatric hospital last night, he had a breakdown,'

Clara was shocked to find out John was in a hospital, but simply shrugged, 'What could John possibly breakdown for? He only cares about himself,' she said, almost void of emotion, 'Send him my best wishes…'

'Don't you have a party to get to? If I remember correctly, you had a ring to give to a certain boy?'

'Yes, I do, in fact. Can't believe I'm actually marrying someone,' Jack snorted and shrugged his shoulders, 'Honestly, I can't wait to marry him… It's not so scary when you're in love.'

Clara shivered and smiled, 'I'll let you know when I fall in love… You'll definitely be my maid of honor,' she sent him a wink, remembering that one time he dressed in River's dress and heels.

Clara laughed, missing the times with her old friends, 'Did she ever forgive you for that?' she teased, the two of them heading towards their cars.

Jack smirked and waggled his eyebrows at her, looping his arm through hers, 'She loved it, although she was quite annoyed I stole her lipstick…'

Clara laughed for the first time in a month, 'I bet she was… Don't tell her it looked far better on you,' she smirked, slowly inhaling as she stopped in her tracks. She'd been battling with herself since Jack brought it up, and it seemed her rational side was winning.

'Is he okay? What happened?'

Jack lent back on his car, his hands in his pockets as he smiled weakly, 'He – uh, he blamed himself for Hope's death, kept calling himself a murderer, he knew this whole time Hope was his daughter, he just – he couldn't take the guilt anymore and when he was at home, with his family, he trashed his room and was screaming for you.'

Clara swallowed as she listened to Jack, her hand playing with the rings on her finger as a nervous tick, while the other fell onto her empty abdomen, the pain still fresh, 'I can't say I don't blame him for Hope's death, but I still wish him well,' she murmured, cupping Jack's face as she placed a chaste kiss to his cheek.

'I'll see you soon,' she told him, before getting into her car and driving off.

She didn't plan on seeing John, but it seemed her mind told her otherwise as she found herself outside the hospital, 'I was wondering if I could see John Smith?'

The receptionist, a young girl with a bright smile nodded and looked down at her computer, 'Yes, that should be fine, he's in his room resting after a therapy session. Are you his sister?' she smiled at her, handing her a form to fill out.

'If not, could you fill out this form indicating that you do have some type of relation to John?'

Clara nodded, filling out the form as she left out the relation she had to John. She was here to find out exactly that, she knew they could never be where they once were, but she'd help him if he was in trouble. Her hands began to shake out of nerves as she knocked on the door. A slight sigh of relief when she saw him lying down.

'Hey, it's me,' Clara muttered, uncertain and quiet as she walked in and sat on the chair opposite his bed

She was nervous, she didn't know how he'd react to seeing her. Half an hour of silence passed and Clara decided it wasn't such a good idea to come. She shifted to a standing position as if to leave, her eyes lingering on him as if waiting for him to stop her from leaving.

John reached up and grabbed her wrist, tugging her back down, but he still continued to stare at the floor, his blue eyes filled with tears as his voice broke, 'It was my fault… All of it, it was my fault,'

Clara nodded, sitting down. She didn't know what to do, she still felt anger towards him, but seeing him like this tugged at what little heart she had left, 'I won't lie and say it wasn't, but why are you upset?' she asked, confused by his sudden change of heart.

'You didn't want her John, you said it yourself, she was a burden and our lives would have been better without her. So, go ahead and live your life,' she said, pulling back her wrist from his grip.

'This didn't affect you, you'll still be able to finish your degree, get married, have kids,'

John shook his head, clenching his jaw as he stood up and walked over to a vase, his face red with anger as he threw it at the wall, 'Get out!' he screamed, glaring at her as he went to push her out but before he could, two nurses ran in, pulled Clara back and injected John's arm as he collapsed to the ground.

Clara quickly lunged to catch him before he fell to the ground, her arms around him as she helped the nurses lay him down. Clara sighed and shook her head towards the nurses, 'I'm staying,' she told them sternly, her brown eyes determined.

She sat there for the entire night, waiting for the sedative to wear off so she could apologise to him. She was hurting, but she could now see he was hurting too. She felt him stir and quickly sat up straight, her tone soft as she brushed a couple of strands of hair from his face.

'I'm sorry John, I'm still hurting… But I shouldn't have spoken to you like that,'

John simply groaned, not quite contemplating what she was saying as he sighed and shifted around on his bed, trying to kick the sheets off.

He was drowsy and barely awake, 'I loved her, even if you think I didn't… She was my daughter too,'

Clara helped him, by removing the first layer of sheets, 'You wanted me to have an abortion, of course I thought you didn't love her,' she sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

'There's nothing we can do now, except move on,'

John didn't move his hand to grab hers, but he didn't move it away from her when she went to grab his, 'Of course I loved her, you pushed me away and told me she wasn't mine,' he muttered, looking her in the eye.

'I wanted you to abort her before she was even a child, it's different when she's alive and growing inside of you. I wanted us to be a real, proper family. I didn't want Hope to grow up in a broken family with barely any money or to be given away like I was, she deserved better than what I could give her,'

Clara groaned, wiping her face with her hands, 'I know that, but I was willing to give her that chance… But now I won't even get the chance to do that ever again,'

'Please, can we stop blaming each other and just go back to being…' she stopped herself and just walked back over to him, wrapping her arms around John in a tight hug.

'I forgive you, okay? I forgive you, but you can't beat yourself up, you still have a life to live. You'll get married and have children, and you'll shower them with love. I won't get that John, I - '

Clara inhaled sharply, her voice breaking, 'I can't have children ever again…' she told him, stepping away as the tears began to well around her eyes. She didn't want to cry in front of him.

'I hope you get better soon…' Clara murmured, turning on her heel as she left him alone.

John simply stared after her, his body simply not being able to move from the effects of the sedative. He took a shaky breath in and decided at that point, he was going to ge better for Clara. He was going to prove to her that she didn't need to give birth to be a mother, for them to be a family. John wanted to prove to Clara that she was worth more than she thought.

A few weeks passed, and Clara wasn't able to return to the hospital to visit John. She still couldn't look at him, without feeling the pain of losing Hope. She was sat on a stool in the diner she worked at, waiting for her break to be over. She'd grown to love the diner, many different travellers with tons of adventure stories often sat and spoke to her for hours. Maybe she would take a year break from University and travel the world.

The bell on the door of the diner dinged as in walked Amy, Rory, River and Eleven on a visit for Clara. Eleven went straight over and brought her into a huge hug, apologising that he hadn't seen her in so long and he was incredibly busy. Amy and Rory took their seats at a booth, Amy occasionally looking over to Clara, they hadn't spoken since Clara moved dorm rooms. Rory was sceptical, but he still continued to talk to Clara, even if Amy didn't. And River, River was just normal River, got on with anyone and flirted with everyone.

At the counter, Eleven moved away from their hug and sent Clara a weak smile, 'Are you coming to Jack's wedding in a few months? He has invited you…'

Clara smiled back at him and nodded, 'Of course I am, I wouldn't want to miss Jack's wedding,' she mused, occasionally looking at Amy, she still wasn't sure if she could forgive her.

Clara stood and walked over to the group, 'Do you guys want anything?' she asked, getting her pen and pad ready as she gave Rory a gentle smile.

Rory informed her of what he wanted and before Clara could walk away, Amy decided that was a great point to pipe up, 'Why did you just leave us all, Clara? Did any of us mean anything to you?'

Clara looked around, making sure her boss was in the back office before she took a seat next to them, 'You all wanted me to give up my child or kill her? None of you believed in me, when I needed a friend, you turned your back on me,' she sighed, looking to Amy.

'None of you even came to visit at the hospital, so do you really need to know why I left? The only one that reached out to me was Jack,'

Eleven frowned at Clara, tapping his fingers against the table as he glanced to River and then back to Clara, 'We tried… We always tried to come and see you, but your father said you didn't want us there. He would only let Jack in,' he muttered, his emerald eyes string blankly at the floor.

Amy sighed and crossed her arms over her chest, 'Whatever. There's no point in pointing fingers, we need to look forward now, instead of backwards…'

Clara scoffed, 'Really? You could at least apologise, Amy,' she sighed, turning to leave their table.

She came back with their orders, her face much softer and amicable than before as she sat down with them. She barely ate as she played with the chips on her plate.

'I saw John the other day, is he still there?'

Eleven cleared his throat and shuffled awkwardly in his seat. There was a tension in there, something that Clara didn't know about. River took a sharp breath in and smiled at her – it was a fake smile, but with River, you could barely tell.

'He's doing okay, I saw him yesterday after one of my History classes, but…' she cleared her throat and looked Clara in the eye, 'They've diagnosed him with bipolar,'

'Bipolar?' Clara muttered, her eyes on River, 'Why would they diagnose him as bipolar?' she leant over the table, sensing the weird tension in the room. She could see them sharing glances with one another.

'Okay, what the hell is going on?' Clara demanded, asking for the complete truth.

River sighed and played with her fingers – even she was nervous, and River never got nervous about anything. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Eleven suddenly butt in.

'He has had it for years, just nobody even realised and neither did he…'

Clara nodded.

Somehow, she didn't believe that was all there was to it, but she would take it for now. She stood silent for a while, just trapped thinking inside her mind. She loved him once, he loved her too, but that wasn't the case. She felt the need to help him, but a part of her wanted nothing to do with him.

Clara sighed as she felt Rory's hand on her shoulder, 'I'm okay – I'm just thinking, what can we do to help him?'

Rory sighed and lent against the counter, looking over at the others still sat in the booth, 'I really don't know,' he told her simply and then raised his head to look at Clara properly.

'How did we get here, Clara? How did we start the year, all perfectly happy, to this pile of wank now?' it was unusual for Rory to swear, but as he stared at Clara, she didn't seem to react.

'I miss the old days,'

Clara let out an exasperated sigh, looking to Rory, 'I do too, I miss just us hanging out, talking and bitching about that idiot head teacher of ours,' she said and watched as Eleven started to giggle.

'What are we going to do, can we just move on from this?' she asked the group, a gentle smile on her face.

'Jack's getting married, it seems like is just passing by too quickly,'

Rory scratched the back of his head, 'Honestly, I was expecting Eleven and River to get married before Jack ever did,' he laughed and took out his phone, using his thumb to scroll through his contacts.

'Should I give Vastra and Jenny a call? Ask if they'd like to hang out today? Maybe Rose and David will come with us too and I've heard Psi is back in England,'

'I just need to run to my dorm and change, but I'm down to hang,' Clara told them, picking up their finished dishes as she grabbed her coat and told her boss she was leaving work early.

'Psi? Really? Wasn't he working for the FBI, or was it the CIA?' Clara asked him as they headed outside.

When Rory shrugged his shoulders, she laughed and got into her car, heading off to the University and back to her dorm room.


	9. Chapter 9 - Hurt and Comfort

Clara didn't expect to bump into John so soon, but she vowed not to make things too awkward.

John cleared his throat, a box of medication in his hands as he smiled awkwardly at her, 'Clara, hi…' he whispered, not entirely sure if the others had told Clara about his condition.

'I just came to pick up the rest of my stuff, looks like I've going to be doing my Uni work in therapy,'

Clara smiled as she touched his arm, and gave him a reassuring squeeze, 'Oh, that's great, you'll be able to graduate with us next year then,' she said, her eyes soft.

She was about to open her mouth to speak, but all that came out was a yelp as arms wound around her waist and within seconds, she was being spun in the air. Clara was ready to hit whoever it was, but once she was on the ground and facing her attacker, she realised it was Psi and immediately wrapped her arms around him.

Once they had let go of each other, Clara turned to face John once again, 'Psi… Remember John?'

Psi nodded, his arm around her waist as he scratched at his fully grown beard, 'Of course,' he murmured, reaching across to shake John's hand, noticing the medication in his hand, but chose to ignore it.

Psi dropped his head to look down at Clara, a gentle smile on his face, 'Shall we go then? The others are waiting,'

Clara nodded, telling Psi she'd catch up with him later.

Once he left, Clara turned to look at John and his faint smile seemed to disappear, 'Are you coming? I'll be like the old days, Rory's idea,'

John cleared his throat and shuffled awkwardly on his feet, 'Maybe, I don't know. I might be a bit awkward with…' he trailed off, expecting her to understand what he meant but by the look on her face, she didn't even know about it.

'Haven't you seen Eleven yet? Or did you just not notice?'

Clara laughed as she stepped closer, his large hand in her own small hand, 'Do you really think I care for you so little that I wouldn't notice when something's off?' Clara muttered, giving his hand a squeeze as she looked into his eyes.

'John, I was pregnant and all of you shunned me because of it. I'm not like that, I'm not leaving your side,' she said, giving him her famous sad smile.

'We'll do this like we always do things… Together,'

John stared at her for a moment before he dropped his box of things onto the floor and stepped forward, his arm winding around her neck as he kissed her gently, with all the care and love he could master.

Clara's heart pounded in her chest, her legs almost gave way from the sheer shock of having his lips pressed against hers, she was sure she'd fall if it wasn't for his secure arms holding her firmly against him. She felt a tear rolling down her cheek, her hands trembling as she threaded them into his soft curls. She'd missed his taste, his aroma. It was then Clara realised where she belonged, and where she never wanted to leave.

'John…' she murmured, his name on her lips feeling like a prayer against her soul.

John swallowed, his forehead resting against hers as he took a deep breath, 'I know…' he managed to murmur, his smile never ending as he lent forward to press his lips against hers again.

'I love you Clara, and I don't want to face losing you ever again,'

Clara gave him a weak smile, her heart racing as she looked into his cerulean eyes. She could get lost in them for an eternity, and not complain.

'I don't want to lose you either,'

He nodded, a bright smile on his face as he lent forward and kissed her softly, 'Promise me we won't leave each other again?' John asked her, tears in his blue eyes as he lifted Clara's hand and pressed a kiss to her skin.

'I can't stand losing you again, it would kill me.'

Clara shook her head, 'I can't promise you that John, but I can promise you that John, but I can promise that I'll try my best, to stay by your side…' she rose to kiss away his tears, remembering Psi was waiting for them just outside the door.

'Shall we?'

John nodded, kissing the side of her head and just before she could leave, he pulled her back, looking Clara in the eye, 'What are we going to tell the others? That we're together, or we're just friends and we're working it out?'

Clara nodded, 'The truth, that we are just friends,' she told him sternly, looking John in the eye.

'I love you John, but I'm still hurting. That doesn't go away easily, I just need time to think and to let myself feel again,'

She squeezed his hand and turned to face the door, 'Come on then, we have a party to go to,'

John nodded, smiling down at her as he held his hands up, 'Completely fair,' he murmured, his heart racing whenever he looked at her, she made him feel things he didn't even know he could feel.

'Not going to lie, I am a bit nervous…'

Clara stopped in mid stride, causing him to almost bump into her. She turned, her features soft as she watched him closely, 'We don't have to go, you know… We could always just go upstairs and relax,'

John took a deep breath and shook his head, 'No, no, I have to face my problems head on…' he reached for Clara's hand and squeezed it tight.

'That's what my therapist told me,'

Clara gave him a soft smile as they headed towards the party. She could feel him tense up under her touch the closer they got to the party, 'Just hold my hand, if you get scared…' she offered as they walked in.

Clara immediately got a bear hug from Eleven, her arms wrapped around him as he slowly put her down.

John cleared his throat as Eleven simply stared at him, 'Listen… mate,' but before he could get his words out, Eleven lent forward and smacked him as hard as he could right on his mouth, knocking John to the ground.

Clara instantly fell on her knees by John, her arms holding him up, 'What the fuck was that for?' she demanded, glaring at Eleven as she wiped the blood from John's nose.

'Hey, are you okay?'

John nodded, taking a deep breath as he sat up, his curly brown hair falling over his eyes as he tried to wipe the blood away, but it was just seeping through his fingers, 'I'm fine, I'm fine, I probably deserved that.'

Clara shook her head, brushing away his curls, her brown eyes filled with concern as she helped him stand, 'Let's get you to a Doctor…' she murmured, but not before turning to face Eleven.

'I get that you're angry, but we're friends again, no use in any of us getting upset with one another,'

John followed after Clara, holding onto his face as they left the party. Once they reached the hospital, he walked straight into the A&E, getting his broken nose seen to as they broke it back into place, John screeching in pain.

Clara held onto his hand, wincing as he squeezed it hard, 'He shouldn't have done that,' she whispered, helping him get the blood off his nose, 'What now?'

He cleared his throat and shuffled about awkwardly as the nurse fixed up his nose and got him to sign a few forms, 'I guess we go back to our rooms? Unless you want to go back to the party? I'll just have to avoid Eleven,'

Clara smiled, 'Let's go back to my dorm…'

The two of them drove back to the University and walked straight up to her dorm room. The room was a lot bigger than his, with a bed big enough for the two of them, 'We don't have to do anything, we can simply watch a movie,' she told him, knowing his trepidation.

John nodded, taking off his jacket as he set it down on the back of a dining chair, 'Yeah, yeah, that would be nice…' he mused, walking into the kitchen to take his tablets.

He didn't want to take them in front of Clara, he was afraid she could think less of him and fall out of love with him. But he supposed if Clara could forgive him for killing their daughter, she could forgive him for anything.

Clara put on 'IT' as she remembered he had mentioned it the first time they'd met. It seemed so long ago, and somehow Clara couldn't believe all that had happened. She hadn't truly forgiven John, but felt obligated to help him through his own demons. She wasn't the type of person to leave anyone behind, even if she might not get along with them. She watched him taking his pills, and sighed as she waited for him to come back to her.

John made sure to slip the bottle back into his pocket as he made his way over to her with a kind smile, 'Sorry, needed some water,' he told her with a soft voice and then grabbed a blanket.

He sat beside her, not wanting to lean too closer unless she wasn't comfortable with him yet, 'IT? Really? You hate clowns,' John mused, his gaze playful.

Clara shrugged, 'I do… But you love Stephen King,' she sighed, pulling on his blanket before covering them both up.

Clara started the movie and instantly cuddled up to his side, clutching onto the blanket as the creepy music started rolling.

He snorted, 'You're not going to survive this movie,' John laughed and kissed into her hair, his heart racing at how close they were. He wouldn't dare move closer to her, he'd let her move closer to him, if she wanted to.

Clara slapped his chest in jest, her heart racing at how close they were, but she wouldn't push it further. She knew he needed time. Clara jumped into his arms as the clown appeared out of nowhere, a small scream escaping her lips as her hands wrapped around his shirt.

John laughed at her, his voice soft and soothing in her ear, 'Clara, it's okay, it's just a film, you're okay, I've got you…' he murmured, his heart racing as he bent to kiss just behind her ear.

'You're with me, you're safe…'

Clara nodded, looking up at him and smiling softly. Clara didn't last throughout the movie and slowly fell asleep against John's chest, her hand falling onto his lap. He couldn't sleep, he hadn't slept properly since they had lost Hope and often his thoughts wondered to their daughter – what she would have been like, who she would have looked like, him or Clara? John shook his head and decided not to wake Clara, he supposed all he could do was watch the TV until he fell asleep. Clara was having another one of her nightmares, her heart racing as she woke screaming, her face stained with tears.

Clara noticed John fast asleep and thanked god for it. She couldn't see him, not after dreaming about their dead daughter. She wrapped herself in a blanket, before heading outside to smoke. She rubbed at her face, there wasn't one night that she didn't dream of her baby girl, or rather relived the moment she died.

John woke up a few minutes later, having sensed Clara wasn't there with him. He stood up and followed after her, taking his blanket with him as he wrapped it around both of them, his voice by her ear, 'Can't sleep, Clara?'

Clara shivered as she wiped away the tears from her eyes before he could see them, 'No, I can't…' she whispered, leaning back into his embrace.

'Keep having nightmares,'

John nodded, wrapping his long arms around her shoulders, 'It's okay, darling…' he murmured, his smile undeniable, 'I'll keep you safe,' he promised, pressing a delicate kiss into her hair.

Clara shuffled on her feet.

She wanted to be angry with him, wanted to blame him for their child's death, but she couldn't.

'I miss her…' she whispered, her voice breaking.

He sighed and held her tighter, his arms securely around his ex girlfriend, 'I know, I know,' John muttered, daring to kiss the back of her neck.

'I miss her too, even if I don't have the right,'

Clara nodded in agreement as she stood and walked them back to their bedroom, 'We only have a couple of hours before class, might do us good to try and sleep,' she sighed, noticing the bags underneath his eyes that surely matched her own.

John nodded and smiled softly, 'Sounds good to me,' he murmured, his voice deep and laced with sleep.

As soon as his head hit the pillow and he had Clara's tiny body wrapped around his, he fell asleep in an instant.

Clara had a smirk painted on her lips as she slept, a lucid dream taking her mind. The alarm tore her awake, hearing herself groan in respond until she realised John's arms were still wrapped around her. She smiled for an instant and then started to frown. What exactly were they? How could they get past this? Clara softly nudged him awake, her hands delicately brushing away the mass of curls falling over his face.

John groaned, grumbling something about how tired he was before his eyes blinked open, 'Clara…' he muttered, his voice hoarse and barely there as he stared at her, 'We slept together… I mean, not literally. We slept in the same bed, is that okay?'

Clara laughed, 'Of course it's okay, we're friends, aren't we?' she mused, standing up to stretch before heading into the bathroom and turning on the shower.

John nodded, a faint smile on his face, 'Yeah, yeah, friends. Of course,' he murmured, his blue eyes locked onto hers. As she stretched, his eyes watched the way her body moved, her hair falling over her shoulders and he couldn't help but want to take her to bed.

He watched her leave and seconds later, got up to dress himself and sort out his wild mass of curls.

Clara came out wrapped in a towel. She'd become highly self conscious about her body since the Doctors left a scar just above her pelvis, 'Oh, you're still here?' she muttered, holding on tightly to her towel.

John's eyes widened a little at the sight of Clara. She was still as beautiful as she was before, still as perfect. He took a deep breath and ran his long fingers through his dark curls, pointing towards the door, 'Do you want me to leave? Because I can…'

Clara shrugged, 'Just, I, I mean – I know we, yeah, just until I change,' she managed to get out, blushing a bright crimson colour.

Once he left, Clara quickly changed before heading out to meet him, 'I'm starving, want to catch breakfast before we go to our classes?'

John nodded and smirked at her, grabbing his motorbike helmet as he handed one to Clara, 'Let me guess, you fancy a McDonalds breakfast? You want two hash browns, a toffee latte and a bacon and egg McMuffin?'

Clara almost moaned as he listed what she wanted, he knew her too well, 'Of course I do,' she smirked, wrapping her arms around his chest once she swung her leg over his motorbike.

She'd figured she'd get over the need to be close to him sooner or later, but it was increasingly hard with each passing moment.

John started up his motorbike, the engine loud as he strapped his helmet on properly. And once he was ready, he drove off in the direction of McDonalds, trying to ignore the way his heart raced when he felt Clara's arms around him and the side of her cheek on his back.


	10. Chapter 10 - Jack's wedding

A few months passed.

Clara and John were still simply friends, although a bit closer than before.

The awkwardness had dissipated as they neared graduation.

She was sat under an oak tree, reading a book when she felt someone tap her shoulder, 'Hey, you…'

Psi sat down beside her, leaning across to kiss her cheek, 'Hello, darling,' he mused, scratching at his beard as he nudged her gently.

'What's that you've got there? Jane Austen? Do you ever put her down? And I don't mean that in a gay way, so don't get any ideas,'

Clara giggled and simply nudged him, 'Shouldn't you be in America?' she said, fixing his hair. He eyes soft as she took him in.

Had he always been this cute, or was she too interested in John to notice?

Psi wriggled his nose at her, 'I should be, but I'm still here on my holidays,' he smiled at her and bopped Clara on her nose.

'Clara, I wanted to ask… Are you seeing anybody? Or are you not ready to date yet? I heard, about your baby, and I truly am sorry…' he whispered, his voice barely there as he lent across to squeeze her hand for comfort.

Clara closed her book and rolled her eyes as he bopped her nose, 'I guess I'm not, I don't think I am,' she said, blushing.

She guessed she could try to move on, have a go with Psi.

'I'm ready, but I'm not sure if anyone's asking.'

Psi nodded slowly, his brown eyes dropping to her hand as he kissed it softly, 'Well, just to let you know, if it's not already obvious, I'm still interested…'

Clara smirked, feeling a certain knot in her stomach, 'Of course…' she murmured, cupping his face as her eyes faltered between his eyes and his lips.

Psi nodded, a smile on his face. He took a deep breath and lent forward, kissing her lips as softly as he could. They spent a few minutes just kissing, before they pulled away, their eyes locked on each other's, 'I need to know… Are you over John, Clara?'

Clara shook her head, 'No, I don't think I'll ever be fully over him, but I'm willing to try,' she whispered, honestly and truthfully.

She pressed her lips against his once more, loving the feel of his lips on hers, and yet there was a nagging voice at the back of her mind, telling her it was a mistake, that she belonged with John.

Psi nodded his head and shrugged, 'That's good enough for me,' he murmured, taking her hand as he helped Clara up.

They walked back to her dorm and once they were inside, he kissed her again, his hands cupping her cheeks as he kicked the door shut.

Clara felt a rush of excitement, and yet she couldn't quite down the voice in the back of her head. The one that told her to stop, she let him lay her down and half undressed her before she stopped him.

She shook her head, sighing, 'I can't, Psi…'

Psi stopped, opening his eyes as his lips brushed hers, 'Oh…' he murmured, leaning back as he sat up and pulled his shirt back on, 'Okay, I'm sorry – I didn't mean to rush you into anything,'

Clara nodded, sitting there for awhile. She was so confused on who to be with. She liked Psi, but she still felt that pull towards John. Clara cleared her throat and sat up, pulling her shirt back on at the sudden knock at her door.

John opened the door once she told him he could come in and closed it behind himself. He stepped closer to her, a faint smile on his face, 'Clara, nothing to panic about, but there's something you have to see,' he smirked, holding his hand out as he tilted it to the side.

Clara cocked her eyebrow as she took John's hand, her heart racing with anticipation of what was about to happen, 'Shall I close my eyes as well?'

John laughed and shook his head, 'No, silly,' he mused and once they were outside in the court yard with a bunch of other people, John placed his hands on Clara's shoulders and pointed.

There, in the middle of the court yard, was Vastra down on one knee, proposing to Jenny.

Clara's heart warmed.

It seemed as though all of their friends were getting engaged or moving in together, except her. Clara couldn't help but smile and rejoice at their happiness, 'Jack and Ianto, Vastra and Jenny, who will be next? Amy and Rory?'

John snorted, 'Hardly, Amy doesn't want to be tied down yet. She still flirts with every man she sees,' he laughed and chewed his bottom lip, watching as Jenny said yes and kissed Vastra.

'Seems all our friends are moving on without us…'

Clara sighed and nodded, 'It would seem so, are you taking the offer from Scotland?' she asked, knowing graduation was less than a week away.

She planned on starting to work after University, but thought a trip through Europe would be the best bet for her.

John cleared his throat, his Scottish accent thick, 'It would be nice to go back home,' he murmured, looking her in the eye, 'But, I have people here I wouldn't want to leave behind. People I've become attached to… Over time that happens, I believe.'

Clara blushed, picking up on his words, 'I believe it does… But I would never forgive myself if you let your chance at a music career go by,' she sighed, cupping his face.

She knew what she had to do.

John looked at her, swallowing hard. Did he want to leave her and go to Scotland? Did she want to leave him? Their relationship was in the air, the two of them both waiting to say something to the other.

'Clara…' he trailed off, but judging by the look in her eyes, she knew what he was going to say.

Clara's eyes welled up with tears, her hand in both of his as she stared into his blue eyes. She could see it all, the emotion, all the unspoken words they had missed out on.

'Don't, everything you're about to say, I already know…'

He nodded, sniffing a little as he took her hand and kissed the top of it. Once the crowd's cheers died down, John let go of Clara's hand, watching as she walked away from him. Would they ever be together, or would they just keep circling each other like they used to?

A year quickly passed, Clara had taken a year off, backpacking through Europe.

She hadn't heard much from her old friends, except for Amy, she'd managed to keep in touch with her even after all they'd been through.

Clara was just starting her teaching career when she came upon a little Scottish boy in her class, his thick accent instantly reminded her of John. She missed him, but figured he'd moved on by now. John was visiting in London for a few weeks, for Jack's stag do and then he had agreed to be his best man. The invitations were sent out and soon he was standing at the alter right beside Jack, the guests pilling into the room. John turned to hug Eleven and River, who still weren't engaged because River was now flying to all sorts of different countries on digs and Eleven had been busy working at his new lab.

He turned to find Amy and Rory smiling at him and immediately moved to hug them, listening as Amy told him she'd become a full time model and Rory, a full time nurse and apparently they had moved in together. Jenny and Vastra were next, still unmarried but they had moved into a huge Victorian house and lastly, Rose and David, who had married quicker than Jack and Ianto.

John had grown a full beard, his hair grown out and wild, his blue eyes looked a lot more tired than they used to, his new job had taken it out of him.

Clara walked in to the ceremony a little bit late, a baby boy in her arms. He was a friend of hers, but she'd promised to baby sit, after forgetting about Jack's wedding. She looked lovely in her dress as she walked up to Jack, having not noticed John. She rolled her eyes when Jack asked if the boy was her son, she playfully told him yes and bounced the baby on her hip.

John turned at the sound of her voice, expecting to walk right over and hug her like everything was normal, until he realised what she had told Jack and then looked to the little boy in her arms.

Oh.

She had a boyfriend, she'd moved on and had a child with him instead.

John nodded and once the wedding began and Ianto made his way down the aisle in his sharp suit, John fished in his pocket for the rings, matching wedding bands that had their names engraved onto them.

Clara swallowed, her eyes widening at the sight of him. How was it possible that he'd only gotten more handsome within a year? Clara thought he'd come up to her like nothing happened, but it seemed he thought otherwise as he never even acknowledged her. Clara sighed and sat in silence as the ceremony went on. Once Jack and Ianto were married, they all set off to the reception and upon arriving, Jack immediately asked Clara to dance with him.

Clara sent a warm smile to Rory and handed him the boy in her arms, 'Don't break him, he's only a rental, his name is Christopher,' she teased, taking Jack's hand.

'Just like the good old days, everyone back together again,' she smirked, starting to throw jabs at Jack for his ugly kilt.

Jack rolled his eyes, 'Ianto insisted I go back to my Scottish roots for the wedding,' he laughed, winking at Clara as he spun her around.

'Probably shouldn't have made out that little boy is yours, John thinks you're with somebody,' he sighed, a little irritated by their slow moving relationship.

'Why can't you two just be together, before I slam your heads together?'

Clara rolled her eyes, Jack was always trying to make them happen, 'He left me, I was willing to move to Scotland with him, but he chose to go without me,' she murmured, stealing a glance at John.

Her heart raced as she watched him dancing around the room with River.

'He hasn't tried to reach out anyway, has he?'

Jack rolled his eyes, 'You guys are two peas in a pod,' he muttered, spinning her around once more as they made their way around the room.

Within seconds, Jack had spun Clara again on purpose and she just happened to bump right into the back of John and all of a sudden River disappeared from John's view and joined Eleven back at their table.

Clara gasped, almost falling before somebody grabbed her and held her in his arms. For a moment, she couldn't speak. For a moment, her legs threatened to give way underneath her as John held her close, pulling her tight up against his body.

'I – um, hey…' she sighed, nervous as the first time they had met.

John held her around her waist, holding back the smile when he realised she wasn't wearing any sort of ring, not engaged nor married and apparently that baby wasn't hers.

He smiled a little awkwardly and cleared her throat, 'Hey… I – um, I'm sorry I didn't say anything to you at the ceremony, I thought it would be too painful considering you walked in with a child and I thought you might have had a boyfriend, adopted a baby, had a surrogate, anything…'

Clara simply stared at him.

He seemed so mature, and yet she could still see the glint of a child behind his eyes. She'd missed him, missed being in his arms, and for an instant she'd forgotten why they weren't together. She was too lost in her memories that she didn't noticed when he began moving them around the dance floor.

She smirked as she listened to the song playing, their song. Clara cleared her throat, 'Um, no there hasn't been anyone in my life since you…'

John nodded, his chin resting on the top of her head until he spun her around the room, 'Not even Psi?' he whispered into her ear once she was back in his arms, his Scottish accent thick with love.

'Clara, I don't think I could stand you being with somebody who wasn't me,'

Clara held onto him tighter, her eyes closed as she just listened to his voice, listened to his words, 'There's only ever been one man I've loved…' she whispered, pulling back to look at him.

'I think I've been waiting for you,' she murmured softly, her hand squeezing his.

John smiled, his blue eyes suddenly lit up with a certain type of happiness and in front of everyone at Jack's wedding, he bent and kissed her, one arm wrapped around her waist and the other tangled in the strands of her hair.

Clara hummed with delight as she cupped his face, whilst her other hand wound around his waist. The kiss was perfect, so passionate, and so full of desire.

'John…' she almost moaned, pulling away from him.

Her chest rose, trying to regain rational thought as her breathing slowed down. She took his hand, 'Your place or mine?' she growled, leaning up to nip at his ear lobe.

John almost melted at her touch, and he knew exactly what he wanted. He smirked and took a deep breath, bending to whisper into her as he slipped a hotel room key into her hand, 'Master bedroom, borrowed it from Amy and Rory,'

Clara nodded, 'I just need to have Rory return Chris,' she murmured, referring to the baby boy she had brought with her.

Once Clara told Rory the address, she quickly disappeared into the corridors in search of the hotel number. Her heart racing as she came to it.

Finally, after so much time, they were going to be together.

John stood behind her, raising his hand to rest on the door handle. His hand covered hers, taking a moment to breathe before they both pressed down on the door handle and the door swung open for them.


	11. Chapter 11 - Moving out and Moving on

Once they were inside, John kicked the door shut and managed to get her up against a wall, kissing her with all the passion he had left in him.

Clara smiled against his mouth, her heart finally feeling complete in his arms as she continued to kiss him. Her hands swiftly worked on the buttons of his shirt.

'John, I need you,' she whispered, wrapping her legs around his waist. Clara giggled when she felt his beard tickling her neck.

John nodded and pulled her towards the huge double bed, dropping Clara down onto her back as he climbed over her, his hand pinning her right wrist down as his mouth trailed kisses down her throat, 'I missed you so much, missed touching you, being with you…'

Clara blinked away the tears threatening to build in her brown eyes, 'I'm sorry, sorry for being so stubborn, for not letting this happen sooner,' she whispered, arching her neck to allow him more access, her hands gripping at the shirt on his back.

John nodded, his teeth nipping at her jawline, 'It's okay, Clara, it's okay…' he reassured her, his hands pulling the dress down that she was wearing. In seconds, he had her knickers off and whilst he was still half dressed, he dropped in between her thighs, dragging his tongue along her cunt.

Clara inhaled sharply, her heart racing as she wrapped her legs around his shoulders, her hands digging into his scalp as she pulled on his mass of wild curls.

Clara moaned, her back arching as she ground against his delectable mouth, 'D – Don't stop,' she ordered, her voice stern.

John smirked and arched his eyebrow, listening to the lust in her voice and how much she needed him and for once, he was willing to let her control the situation, 'Yes, ma'am…' he murmured, his face disappearing as he licked along her cunt and flicked his tongue in a circular motion over her clit.

Clara held his face along her cunt, her heart racing as she ground on his face, nearing her climax. She pushed back on him, 'I need you, now.' She told him sternly, pulling John down on top of her.

This was her ideal weight, John, on top of her.

She moaned as she tasted herself on his lips when she kissed him, her fingers tangling in the curls of his hair, her legs wrapping around his backside as she teased herself along his cock.

He growled under his breath, panting heavily as his head dropped by her face, his face hiding in her neck as he ground his hips against hers, 'Fuck,' John panted, reaching down to unbuckle his belt.

'Don't tease me like that, Clara…'

Clara smirked, moving her hand down and into his jeans. He felt so much bigger than she remembered, 'Are you sure?' she whispered, palming him.

'You sure seem to be enjoying it,'

John growled and swatted her hand away. He sat up, pulling his trousers off and then his boxers, unbuttoning his shirt as all his clothes dropped to the ground. Within seconds, he was inside of her, his breath hot by her ear as he pulled her legs tight around the bottom half of his body.

Clara's jaw dropped, he definitely seemed bigger, 'So, big…' she whimpered into his ear, taking a moment to adjust to his size.

They were moving at a quick pace, a growl in his throat as he desperately thrusted inside of her, 'Fuck, Clara,' he sighed, sweat building up around his body as his hand reached down and squeezed her throat hard.

Clara arched her back, a soft moan escaping her lips as she kept her eyes on him, 'More… faster,' she whispered, nudging him to move.

Her own nails dug into his back and for a moment Clara smiled, smiled as she realised they seemed made for one another, it seemed as if they'd never left each other's sides.

John growled, whimpering under his breath as he tried to control his desperate thrusts. He hadn't been inside her in so long, he was almost crippled with excitement. But, he held off and sank his teeth into her neck, marking her as his and within minutes of starting, both of them came hard together, panting heavily.

John slipped out of her, but only to turn her over onto her front, his teeth nipping at her earlobe, 'Do you want more, Clara?'

They spent the entire night making love to each other, exploring each other's bodies and they managed to fall asleep around four in the morning, having no idea the party was still going on downstairs from Jack's wedding.

This was definitely a night to remember.

The next morning, John was still in bed with her, a gentle smile on his face as her brown eyes flickered open, the sun streaming in past the blinds, 'Hey, you…'

Clara groaned, 'Hello, my sexy Glaswegian,' she purred, stretching out like a kitten would, 'I'm starving,'

John nodded and immediately reached for the phone, he seemed to be at her beck and call. He quickly ordered her favourite breakfast food up and jumped up to answer the door, stark naked. He smiled playfully at the waiter, took the food and shut the door in his face.

John turned on his heel and joined a giggling Clara on their shared bed, 'I think my cock intimated him,'

Clara smirked, her brown eyes on his manhood, 'With good reason,' she mused, sighing once she realised what she was about to ask him.

'When do you have to leave, John?'

He smirked and arched his eyebrow at her, looking Clara up and down, 'I think you mean… When do WE leave?' John grinned, something playful in his eyes as he bent forward to kiss her.

'My little kitten,'

Clara met him half way, her lips on his, 'I need to make sure my kids are looked after, it'll take a few weeks before I should be able to join you in Scotland,'

John sighed and nodded, swallowing hard. He didn't think he could spend another moment without Clara, but apparently he was being forced to.

He smiled at her, 'That's okay, you get everything sorted back at Coal Hill and then I'll come back to pick you up and take you back to Scotland with me, I'll find a teaching job for you,'

Clara agreed, pushing him back onto the mattress to kiss him. They had a few more hours before they had to leave the hotel.

Two weeks later, Clara was sat outside her flat, sat on her suitcase as she waited for John to arrive. Finally, after almost two years, they'd be together.

John stepped out of the car and immediately ran straight for her, picking her up into his arms. He spun her around, his voice in her ear, 'I know it's only been two weeks, but I missed you, darling.'

Clara giggled as he spun her. She loved the way he made her feel, as if there wasn't a care in the world, 'Not as much as I did,' she mused, kissing along his jawline.

She took notice of his car, it was a deep blue Mustang convertible.

'You're hardly old enough to be going through a midlife crisis,' she teased, jumping into his car.

He laughed and arched his eyebrow, staring down at her as she climbed into his car, 'I call her the TARDIS,' John winked and moved to the other side of the car, stepping into the driver's seat, 'She's fast, so hold on.'

He took one look at her, and he knew he was looking at his future wife.

 **[A/N: The next chapter is the last… For a head's up]**


	12. Chapter 12 - Four Years Later

**Epilogue**

 _Four Years Later_

Four years had passed.

Clara immediately began teaching in a small town in Scotland.

The move surprised her, it was much lovelier than she thought, as she began her fourth year of teaching. Clara was torn out of her thoughts as the final bell rang.

It was early summer, the children would have half term soon, and she'd get the much needed vacation away from her job.

Clara drove to their little cottage in the outskirts of the Scottish town, where John worked from home. She could hear the rustling long before she unlocked and opened the front door. Clara was immediately bombarded with her three year old as he came running into her arms, whilst John carried their one year old daughter.

'Mummy! Mummy, it's my birthday!' he exclaimed, tugging on her blouse, ever excited as his father.

Clara smiled, remembering that three years ago, the Doctors marvelled at her natural pregnancy. She thought after the loss of Hope, she wouldn't be able to give birth, but it seemed life had a different plan for her and John. Clara smirked as she picked up Evan and walked over to John, her arm instantly wrapping around her husband as she bent to kiss their little girl.

'How's my girl doing?' she asked, pressing a soft kiss to her head.

John bounced their one year old on his hip, smiling at her as he bopped her nose, 'Little Evelyn is doing just fine… She was watching daddy jamming on his piano earlier, she's very jealous it's her brother's birthday and not hers,' he mused with a smug smile and watched as Evelyn reached for her mother.

Evan happened to be the spitting image of his mother, dark hair and dark eyes, his face as round as hers and Evelyn looked exactly like her father, vibrant blue eyes and wild curls on her head, even for a year old baby.

Clara wrapped her arms around her baby girl, always a knot in her stomach as she remembered her little Hope, and how she'd look.

She cleared her throat, looking to Evelyn, 'Is that true, baby? Don't worry, your birthday will be here soon enough,' she laughed, balancing her daughter on her hip as she went to read through the mail and found a letter from their old friends.

'Oh, would you look at that! Seems the gang wants to get together,' Clara said, handing the letter over to John.

John frowned, a little confused considering they hadn't spoken to anyone since they moved to Scotland, they just grew apart. He smiled weakly and opened the letter, smirking when he read it, turning the letter for Clara to see.

'It appears we're invited to the christening and after party of Melody Pond, Amy and Rory's new baby girl…'

Clara smiled, 'She told me she had given birth, didn't think the christening would happen so soon,' she murmured, placing Evelyn down on her high chair as Evan insisted on baking a cake for his birthday.

'Are your hands clean, sweetie?' she giggled, nodding when he showed her the wet palms of his hands.

'Okay, come on then, let's bake you a birthday cake,'

John's arms wound around her waist and Clara automatically lent back into her husband's embrace, 'So, are we going? It's in a couple of weeks,'

John nodded, smiling into the crook of her neck as his beard scratched her skin, 'Yeah, of course. It'll be nice to catch up with the old gang,' he wound his arms around her, laughing to himself as he scrunched up his nose.

'Old gang, jesus, we sound old,'

Clara jabbed his ribs in jest as she turned to kiss him, the children instantly clapping in excitement, 'I do have some time off, maybe we can make a holiday out of it, let the children see London, where we fell in love…' she muttered, speaking in between short kisses.

He nodded, not really listening to her as he paid more attention to the fact she was giving him short kisses, 'That sounds good,' John murmured, smiling smugly when she slapped his forearm.

'Okay, okay, I'm sorry!' he exclaimed with a laugh and watched her closely.

'I was listening, I swear. Take the kids to London,'

Clara rolled her eyes, 'Oh, I'm sure you were,' she winked at him and let go of John to continue baking the cake for their son.

Once it was finished, Clara carefully decorated the cake and lit the candles, 'Make a wish, baby…' she whispered, bopping his nose.

Evan thought for a moment, a little pout on his lips, 'I wish…' he trailed off and looked at his sister and then his parents, 'I wish for my big sister to come back,' he sighed, his voice full of emotion as he blew out his candles.

Clara gasped and covered her mouth, her other hand gripping John's. Clara bent to his eye level, inhaling sharply, 'Honey, that's not possible. Your older sister is…' she tried to explain, her voice breaking.

John swallowed and bent to Evan's level, looking him in the eye as he gently nudged Clara away from their son, 'That's not possible, Evan. Your big sister died when she was in mummy's tummy, she'll always be in our hearts… But we can give you another little brother or sister?'

Clara stood and walked over to the sink. She was over the grief, but every once in a while, moments like this made her relive that unforgettable moment.

Evan smiled and nodded, before walking over to his mother's side, 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you sad, mummy,'

Clara cleared her throat, bending to hug her little boy, 'It's okay sweetie… I'm better now,' she said, noticing how Evan's Scottish accent was coming through.

'Now go on, go get ready for bed…'

John smirked when he heard Evan's Scottish accent and ruffled his hair, 'Little Scot,' he mused, looking over to Clara.

'We should have called him that, Scott. Or Scotty,' he winked at her, winking as Evan gave them a funny look and ran off up the stairs.

'Fancy another one, Clara?'

Clara rolled her eyes, picking up Evelyn in her arms, 'We could, but we'd need time away from…' she nodded towards their little girl, who only giggled at them – oblivious to her mother's words.

Once Clara washed and set the children to bed, she strutted over to their own bedroom, finding John fast asleep. Two weeks later, John was stood in a mirror, sorting out his grey tie as he watched Evan run around half naked, swinging his shirt around. John couldn't help but laugh when he saw Clara run in seconds later, demanding Evan to put his 'damn shirt on'

The Scotsmen moved into his studio to find Evelyn sat at his piano, attempting to play it with her tiny fingers, 'Here, sweetie, like this,' he mused, standing behind her as he tapped his foot and played the piano, singing a certain jazz song when Clara walked in on them playing the instrument together.

Clara couldn't help but marvel at the sight as she walked up behind them, bending to wrap her arms around him, 'Since when do you sing jazz? You hate it,' she teased, placing a soft kiss on his cheek before doing the same to her baby girl.

John grinned and turned his head to look at his wife, 'Evelyn gets excited when I play and sing jazz,' he mused, placing a kiss on their baby girl's head as she clapped her hands and giggled.

'She'll be a jazz musician someday, I'm telling you,'

Clara nodded in agreement, 'It would seem so, but wouldn't the saxophone be more akin to jazz?' she teased her husband, picking up her daughter and blowing a raspberry on her stomach.

'We're all packed, just waiting for Evan,' she smirked, leaning up to kiss John's nose.

John nodded and winked at her, giving his wife a kiss before he scooped Evan off of the floor and tickled him, laughing when the little boy giggled. He quickly dressed Evan properly and soon the family of four were off driving to the christening. Once they had arrived, Clara ran straight to Amy, wrapping her arms around her rather tall friend. All of them just making excessive noise as they tried to inform the other of all that had happened in the last four years in their own separate lives.

John hugged Eleven and noticed the ring on his finger, holding it up, 'Oh, finally, look, guys! River and Eleven are married! Took them long enough,' he smirked, his eyes on his own wife as he watched their little girl squirm in her grip.

Clara let Evelyn go and watched as she wobbled over to her dad, her hand holding onto Evan's, 'This is my little boy, Evan…' she murmured with pride, nudging the shy boy towards the lanky woman.

'Go on, she won't bite. Might be a bit loud though,'

Evan nodded and as polite as ever, he extended his hand to Amy and shook it, a big grin on his face, 'Nice to meet you, tall lady!' he exclaimed, his big brown eyes as inflated as his mother's.

Amy laughed and ruffled his hair with her free hand, beaming down at Clara, 'He's Scottish! Aye, I bet you hate that,'

Clara rolled her eyes at her friend, but soon smiled, 'It can be quite charming, but I need a break from all the Scottish accents,' she teased as her free hand came to rest on her tummy.

'Maybe I can convince John to move back here… So this little one can have my accent,'

Clara noticed her friend's face and immediately shushed her, 'He doesn't know yet… And I'd like to keep him from knowing for a little bit longer,'

Amy nodded, smiling sweetly at Clara as she sent her a discreet wink, 'Do you know the gender yet?' she asked once Evan bounced off to join his father's side.

Clara shook her head, 'I think it's a boy, but won't be sure until a few weeks from now…' she said, taking the sleeping Melody in her arms.

'Oh, she's so precious…And that hair,' she said, amazed by it as she brushed the loose strands of hair away from the girl's face.

Amy beamed at her, 'I never thought I'd have children,' she mused, a small smile on her face as she watched over her baby girl.

'Have you seen David and Rose? Their little girl is almost as precious as Melody,'

Clara's jaw dropped, 'I thought they had broken up? Are they here?' she questioned, smiling as she noticed David's gravity defying hair and the small child in his arms.

'And Vastra and Jenny? Last I heard they were adopting their second child,'

Amy pointed towards Vastra who was holding their new baby boy in her arms and Jenny, who was stood next to her and their two year old sat on the floor beside them, 'Bit of a funny name they chose for her, Nancy… Not sure what the boy's name is, probably Phillip or something silly like that,'

Clara suddenly giggled, 'We've gotten so old…' she mused, rocking the Melody in her arms.

She turned to spotted John with Rory, Clara noticed how he looked so proud showing off Evelyn and Evan, 'He smoothers those two with so much love, I saw him playing jazz on the piano, he hates jazz,' she mused, walking over to their husbands.

Amy carefully handed Melody over to Rory, a smile on her face, 'Shall we start this christening then? Clara, John, we have something to ask you.'

Clara and John looked between them.

'Um, would you do us the honour of being the godparents to Melody?'

Clara smiled widely, sharing a look with John before they both nodded their heads, ever as synch as always, 'Of course, we would love to…' she murmured, picking Evelyn up into her arms.

John nodded and once the christening began, he stood by Rory's side and watched when Melody cried as the water was poured over the little one's head, John swore to protect her if she ever lost her parents and held her carefully, kissing the top of her head to calm the small baby.

Clara was becoming increasingly sleepy as the hours wound down. She noticed her children kept running around the place, playing along with all the other children, 'My feet hurt,' she complained, draping her legs over John.

John laughed, pulling his wife's feet onto his lap as he massaged them gently, 'Better?' he asked, smiling when Vastra and Jenny came over to sit with them, both of them exhausted from taking care of their adopted children.

Clara smirked, humming with delight when his hands massaged her feet, 'Always,' she murmured, resting her head onto his shoulder.

'Not so easy, is it?' she teased, watching the two women exhausted in each other's arms.

Vastra shook her head, pressing a kiss on Jenny's head as she wrapped her arms around her chest, 'Gosh, sex is impossible with the kids around and it's even more impossible to get a nanny. How do you two do it?'

Clara shared a smirk with John, holding his hand closer to her lips, 'It's called quickies… Or mainly when the kids are in school,' she mused, nibbling along John's thumb.

Vastra snorted, 'We're a gay couple and both women, can't exactly have quickies,' she kissed into her wife's hair when she heard Jenny giggle.

John smirked and watched as Clara nibbled on his thumb, ' Want to go for one now whilst the kids aren't looking or would you like to dance, Mrs Smith?'

Clara almost spilled her drink, 'You'd be surprised what John's tongue, and fingers can do…' she growled, turning to sink her teeth into his neck.

'I think I've danced enough for tonight, dear…' she whispered, setting her glass down and taking hold of John's arm.

'Not many rooms here… I think I saw a closest down the hall.'

John smirked and nodded, sending Vastra and Jenny a wink, 'Watch the kids for us, we should be back in about half an hour,' he told them, yelping when Clara tugged on his hand and dragged him down the corridor.

Clara made sure no one was watching as she quickly dragged him into a nearby closest, her heart pounding as she didn't bother undressing him, 'Dear, as much as I love how attentive you are… We've got to be quick,' she laughed, looking down when she felt him trying to pull up her dress.

John laughed and nodded, 'Yes boss,' he smirked and unbuckled his belt, pushing his trousers and boxers down to his ankles.

He yanked down her knickers, almost snapping the fabric as he pushed up her dress to her waist. John growled under his breath and within seconds, he was inside of her, his hands pulling Clara's legs tight around his waist.

Clara held onto his shoulders, her nails digging in as she began to roll her hips along him, 'Never forget it,' she growled, nipping along his collarbone.

Clara's arousal began to pool between her legs with each passing moment, her heart racing as she heard voices just outside the door, and yet it only added to her arousal, 'Faster,'

He nodded, growling under his breath, 'Yes, Mistress…' John muttered, his heart racing as he slammed inside of her, not caring if anybody heard them. His thrusts only grew faster and harder, knocking a few brooms over in the closest with his hands as he tried to grab at her.

Clara reached to tug at his curls, they'd become so untamed over the years, and yet she couldn't find the time to get him to cut them. Her heart pounded in her ears, drowning out everyone else except for them, 'So close…'

Her legs began to shake around him, noticing how his thrusts became uneven, his breathing ragged and shallow, surely mirroring her own. John slammed into her until he could feel her clenching around him, 'Come on baby, cum!' he exclaimed, hearing knocking on the door as the voices of River and Eleven screeched through the door.

'Come on, guys! We want to use this place! You've got kids to look after!'

Clara ignored their complaints as she came hard around John, pushing back the hair off of his face as she crashed her lips against his, 'I love you…' she whispered against his lips, and whimpered in protest as he slipped out of her.

'Oh, you two just sod off!'

John snorted, 'Why are you upset, would you rather me be back inside of you?' he muttered, leaning down to kiss her.

Clara looked quite bashful, before nodding, 'Don't you?' she questioned him, running her hand along his chest.

She was about to say something to him when River banged harder on the door.

He sighed and rolled his eyes, shouting to the doctor, 'Alright, alright, River!' John growled and pulled back on his clothes, throwing Clara her own clothes before he looked her in the eye and stuffed her knickers into his jacket pocket.

Clara rolled her eyes as she laced her arm through his, walking out of the closest and shooting a glare in River's direction. Once they returned to the party, she couldn't hold in her laughter when she saw Evan stark naked, running around with chocolate cake over his face as Amy ran after him.

John burst into laughter, raising his hand to high five Clara, 'Definitely our boy,' he mused, running over to scoop up his son, wiping the chocolate from his face.

'Did you eat Melody's cake?!'

Evan's mouth was full of it as he shook his head, 'No, daddy… I think it was um, that kid,' he told them, pointing to Phillip, Vastra's child, who could barely walk.

Clara arched her eyebrow, trying to hold back the laughter, 'Are you sure… It was Phillip?'

Evan swallowed, a very scared look on his face as his brown eyes inflated like Clara's did all the time, 'Yes…' he trailed off, biting down on his bottom lip.

'It was Phillip, daddy!'

Clara shared a look between John and Evan, 'He's your son…' she murmured, walking off in search for their daughter.

She found her grabbing onto Rory's leg as Amy held Melody, 'There you are, sweetie,' Clara sighed, giving Amy an apologetic look for the destroyed cake.

Amy laughed and sighed heavily, holding Melody protectively as she wrapped her up like a burrito in her blanket, 'It's fine, I'm seeing the funny side. Rory, not so much… He wanted everything to be perfect,'

Clara picked up Evelyn in her arms before apologising to Rory. Once they said their goodbyes to everyone, Clara met John by the car, 'Did you talk to him?' she asked, referring to their son's little white lie.

John nodded, sending her a wink, 'Of course, my boy doesn't lie to his dad,' he smiled and waited for Clara to strap Evelyn into the car seat and once she had, he bent to kiss his wife.

'We waited so long and now look what we have… I couldn't be happier, Clara Smith,'

'Nor can I,' she mused, a simple smile on her face, 'Nor can I,' she whispered to herself, climbing into the passenger seat after she had kissed her husband.

She fell to sleep somewhere in between strapping her seatbelt on and driving off from the location.


End file.
